There has been a lot of speculation about when the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Post Graduate (NEET-PG) exam is expected to be held this year since it was postponed just about 12 hours before it was scheduled to be conducted on June 23.
While some news reports and medical associations claim that the exam is likely to be held in mid-August, others have said that it might be conducted this month only. However, an official word has yet to be out regarding the examination.
Amid this confusion, it is beyond doubt that the candidates expected to sit for the medical entrance examination this year, are in a state of mental anguish.
Sharing his concerns, Dr Ummed Singh Nimbora, a NEET-PG 2024 candidate from Rajasthan, said, “There is no clarity about when the NEET-PG exam is going to be held. For many NEET-PG candidates, like in Rajasthan, there are vacancies in PHCs (Primary Healthcare Center). But we are unsure whether or not we should go for that, or prepare for the NEET-PG examination. We do not even know if we are preparing for this year’s examination or the next (2025)”
Since the beginning of this year, there has been constant uncertainty regarding the conduct of the NEET-PG exam. The exam, which is usually held in the month of March, was first held on July 7 but later preponed to June 23, 2024.
Then, owing to the ongoing controversy regarding irregularities in the NEET-UG exam, the exam was again postponed right before it was to be conducted on June 23.
As per recent updates, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) is expected to announce the date for NEET-PG 2024 this week.
Candidates expressed that since NEET-PG is a national-level examination with major importance in the medical community, the government should set up a proper calendar for it every year.
“We have already suffered, but we hope our juniors do not witness the same fate. The least that the government can do is to ensure that a standard calendar is in place for NEET-PG, like for many other national-level exams. AIIMS-INICET is conducted twice a year, on time. The same should be ensured for NEET-PG,” said Ummed.
“They are in talks of merging all PG-level medical entrance exams like AIIMS and JIPMER with NEET-PG. At Least the other examinations are being held on time,” he added.
