The delay in the 2024 National Eligibility Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET PG) counselling has placed the state governments in a difficult position, as they are yet to prepare the merit lists for admissions to the state-run medical colleges.
In a post on the social media platform X, Dr Harshad Sharma (@DrMehtaOfficial) stated that the delay in releasing individual NEET-PG scores by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) has led more than six states to halt postgraduate medical admissions.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, and Rajasthan have paused the process, as they were unable to use the percentile score that has been released so far.
These state governments compile a combined merit list that includes bonus marks added to the actual NEET-PG scores for doctors employed in the government sector.
These "in-service doctors" are granted a percentage of additional marks based on their NEET-PG score for serving in hilly regions, challenging terrains, and rural areas, with the bonus varying according to the tenure of their service.
But now the process of the state governments has come to a standstill.
Lack of proper academic calendar
"Candidates have been flooding me with questions, but what do I answer? The status of medical education is deteriorating day by day as there seems to be no system," says Dr Harshad, a National Executive Member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), and currently employed as a medical officer in Rajasthan.
While he emphasised the problem in the normalisation of the score, calling it a flawed concept, he also questioned why the government is unable to strictly adhere to an academic calendar.
"There are no rules laid down and no transparency for the normalisation process, further, the last round of counselling is expected to be held no later than December. This usually takes place in the month of April. There should be a timeline for everything, and now students have to bear the brunt," says Dr Sharma in exasperation.
Deferrals and delays
While the sessions have been constantly delayed since COVID-19, it was decided by the Ministry of Health and the National Medical Commission (NMC) to set the pace of these examinations and return to normalcy. Yet this year, elections and several other unexplained events marred the plan and delayed the examination.
Citing the delay in hearing the pending cases in the Supreme Court directing NBE to release the answer key, the IMA member said that instead of easing stress for the medical students, they now have to wait for two more weeks to receive a judgment and for the counselling process to begin.
The National Board of Examinations (NBE), an independent body overseen by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has come under scrutiny, as it has been inducing uncertainty among students.
The exam, which was initially scheduled to take place on March 3, 2024, after a series of delays, was conducted on August 11.
Score normalisationThe exam was conducted in two shifts, to ensure a secure process, with the exam being conducted at high-security centres. The national council member of IMA (Junior Doctors' Network), Dr Dhruv Chauhan, said that although the decision was wise, other problems tagged along.
Students appearing for the second shift complained of the paper being difficult. NBE decided to resort to the normalisation of scores to ensure a level playing field for the students.
Yet problems still lurked when the NBE laid no clear guidelines of how the scores were to be normalised, and on what basis. Dr Sharma calls this a major blunder, which led to students doubting the entirety of the process.
Disruption in the system
The series of blunders does not end here. Today, Tuesday, October 8, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote to the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, urging them to expedite the processes of the NEET PG 2024 counselling processes.
In the letter they say, "The prolonged delay could lead to significant disruptions in the academic calendar, affecting the overall training and deployment of specialist doctors in the country at a time when the healthcare system is already under pressure..."
Upon closer examination, doctors who have been waiting for a year and appeared for NEET PG 2024 now face an additional wait of over six months, while the delay is also leading to difficulties for postgraduate (PG) residents in hospitals.
"These first-year residents who were supposed to undertake other duties are still compelled to continue with their first-year duties in the absence of the new batch. This is creating a huge lacuna in their academic experience, adding pressure on the current residents in the hospitals," explained Dr Harshad.
Dr Dhruv echoed the same concerns, emphasising that the lack of a strict academic calendar is causing widespread disruption, with the entire system suffering from a lack of accountability.
Reconstituting governing bodies
Chauhan further argues, "The members of NBE and NMC are unaware of the problems encountered by the doctors of this generation. They pay no heed to the suggestions that are sent to them. They arbitrarily impose what they deem best without even communicating with the doctors."
Career counsellor, Jayaprakash Gandhi believes that these bodies must be dissolved and reconstituted again to bring equilibrium to the whole system.
He says, "Every year they are experimenting and introducing new systems, new methods further creating confusion. There has been no notice even on the National Exit Test (NExT). I feel they are losing control with time."
Using school boards as an example, he argued that they have a more efficient system in place, with dates announced much in advance. "If school boards can manage this, why can't these top-level medical councils?" he questions.
Court cases, exam cancellation, exam centre issues, admit card issues, no timely release of scorecards or counselling schedule, no transparency, unemployment, loss of time, and excessive work — the issues keep piling up. As Dr Harshad rightly said, there is no respite for a doctor, ever.
