On January 30, an official announced that the National Eligibility Entrance Test (Postgraduate) examination fee has been reduced for all the candidates by Rs 750. The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has decided to reduce the exam fees to benefit the lakhs of candidates appearing for the examinations under it, the official added, as stated in a report by PTI.
Giving details on who can avail of this revised fee process, the official said that any candidate submitting the application form for the forthcoming examination after January 1, 2024, will have to pay the reduced fee.
To recall, in 2013 application fee for the General and OBC (Other Backward Classes) categories was Rs 3,750. However, this fee was raised to Rs 4,250 in 2021 which was the current fee. From January 1, 2024, onwards the fee has been reduced to Rs 3,500.
In 2013, the application fee for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) candidates was Rs 2,750, which was raised to Rs 3,250 in 2021. Now, this has been reduced to Rs 2,500, as stated in a report by PTI.
Reactions pour in
Reacting to this decision of the board, the Chairman of the Federation of All Indian Medical Association Dr Rohan Krishnan tweeted on January 30, "Good move and thanks to @NbeIndia & @MoHFW_INDIA @mansukhmandviya for reducing the fee of NEET PG examination. Also requesting to kindly make sure that proper arrangements at the examination centre is made. Clean toilets, drinking water, air conditioning. These are very important."
A student of Urology (@Urologyadav) tweeted, "Taking money for exam is never a issue I think for most students appearing. But not giving basic facilities at exam center is what hurtful No proper arrangements, choas like hell and many a times glitches That needs improvement"
On the other hand, Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) raise concerns about the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) exam fee. Taking it to X (formerly known as Twitter), an FMG (@drdeepak_tiwary) from Russia said, "Sir what about FMGE exam form fee its about 7k..India’s most expensive exam"
