Ahead of the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test for Masters of Dental Surgery (NEET MDS) exam 2024 on March 18, 2024, two candidates have approached the Supreme Court urging for postponement of the exam. In a continuous fight for postponement, candidates had previously written multiple representations to the National Medical Commission (NMC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Dental Council of India (DCI) and others, but to no avail.
Speaking to EdexLive, one of the candidates who filed a petition, Dr Ayesha Nazrin, said many of her friends lamented that they are not eligible for the exam due to the cut-off eligibility. As per NMC, those who completed their internship on or before March 31, 2024, are eligible for the exam.
Ayesha along with another candidate Dr Rishab Chakraborty, filed a petition representing the non-eligible candidates and are waiting for case enlistment. "We are praying and manifesting for our case to be enlisted before February 19 as it is the last day for the exam registration," she said adding that there are 11 petitioners who are ineligible for the exam.
Main concerns
The main concern many candidates pointed out is that the commencement of the internship was delayed due to COVID-19 and the date was not uniform for all medical colleges in India. Therefore, owing to the delayed commencement of the internship, candidates are allegedly not eligible for the MDS exam.
Ayesha told EdexLive, "My friends have reached out to me lamenting that they will finish their internship on April 6, hence, one year will be wasted due to ineligibility. My two other friends who are interning with Government Dental College, Trivandrum said they are lagging by one year and are in a helpless situation. Most of us feel left out."
"Few have mentally prepared themselves that their one year is going to be wasted. We have a Telegram group with over 2,500 candidates facing the same problem. However, no official is listening to our concerns and nothing is being done," Ayesha said, adding that a court case is a tedious job when taken up side by side with preparing for the exam.
Extending his support, today, February 12, the former national secretary of the National Medicos Organisation (NMO) Dr Prakash Kumar Pandey has written to the health ministry requesting for postponement of the exam. The letter which EdexLive has access to, highlighted, "keeping in mind the interests of students completing their internship by August 31, 2024, should be postponed and it should be held in July 2024."
Another concern highlighted by Ayesha is that the exam centres are limited. "Exam centres have been cut off and cities like Varanasi, Kanpur, Indore do not have a centre. Overall, test centres are fewer in number leading to travelling challenges for the candidates," she said.
As per our earlier reports, more than 8,000 students have signed an online petition to postpone the NEET MDS 2024 to July.
