NEET-PG 2024: Lack of exam centres in HP, Uttarakhand trouble students

Today, Friday, July 19, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), released the list of test cities for the conduct of the NEET-PG 2024, however, there still seem to be several hitches along the way when it comes to the national-level postgraduate medical entrance exam.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2024 exam is now scheduled to be held on August 11, 2024, after it was postponed last month. The test city and test centre communicated in the admit cards issued earlier for NEET-PG 2024, which was to be held on June 23, 2024, is no longer valid, as NBEMS has informed.

Now, candidates, especially those from regions like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, have complained about the lack of availability of test centres in their states.

Dr Vaibhav Gautam, a NEET-PG candidate from Himachal Pradesh, told EdexLive, “In a state like Himachal Pradesh, for roughly 800-1,000 candidates, there is only one centre available in Hamirpur. Before the exam was postponed, a few of my friends had got centres in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, even Maharashtra. Very few were allotted centres in Himachal itself. Last month, I had my centre in Phagwara, Punjab, and I had to take leave for three days from my job, make arrangements for accommodation, but the exam was postponed at the last minute.”

On July 22, just 12 hours before the exam to be conducted, the exam was postponed by the Ministry of Health in order to “maintain the sanctity of the examination process".

Now the NBEMS has again opened a window for the candidates to choose their preferred test cities from July 19 to July 22, 2024.

However, the candidates have expressed frustration over multiple changes in the exam schedule and test centres this year.

“The situation is somehow worse this second time. Last time, there were test centre options in Shimla and other cities in Himachal but this time, there is only one, which is also not accessible to every candidate. There are difficult terrains in the state and a person, say, living in Kinnaur cannot go to Hamirpur in just one day. It places a tremendous financial burden on us as well,” added Dr Gautam.

The candidates also raised concerns about the inconvenience caused by frequent changes by the exam authorities, especially for those living in remote areas of these hilly states.

Dr Ashu Awasthi, Uttarakhand state representative, United Doctors Front Association (UDFA), explained, “There is only one centre in Uttarakhand, that is Haldwani, even in Dehradun there are no exam centres. Especially in monsoon, as there have been several landslides in hilly regions, many routes have been closed — all this creates a difficult situation for the students. It is very problematic that NBE has decreased the number of exam centres. I request the authorities to look into the issue and provide more test centres in the state.”

As per official information, the test city allocated to the candidates will be communicated to them through email on July 29, 2024 at their registered email IDs. The test centre venue in the test city allocated shall be intimated through the admit card which will be released on August 8, 2024 on the NBEMS website.