Amidst waiting, speculation, and a lack of update on when the counselling for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) Admissions 2024 will begin, the dates and schedule are expected to be out in the next two to three days.
This probable update was shared by Dr Lakshya Mittal, National President of the United Doctors’ Front Association (UDFA) today, October 14 via his X account.
While this seems a positive development for NEET PG aspirants, there is just one concern — how would the counselling go on smoothly without the National Board of Examinations for Medical Sciences (NBEMS) releasing the individual scorecards of the candidates?
The NEET PG scorecard contains the candidate’s details like their name, their parents’ names, date of birth, category (General or Reserved), disability status, roll number, the score obtained out of 800, the total number of correct and incorrect answers, NEET PG All India Rank, and NEET PG cutoff.
The NBEMS was expected to issue the scorecards on August 30, shortly after the declaration of the NEET PG 2024 results. However, candidates allege that their scorecards are yet to be released.
Naturally, candidates are afraid that announcing the counselling dates with no update on the scorecards would lead to further confusion. Gaurav Tyagi, NEET counsellor and Founder of Career Xpert explains some of them, in conversation with EdexLive.
“In-service quota could take a hit”
According to Tyagi, the candidates appearing for counselling in the in-service quota would be left high and dry without their scorecards.
To refresh, NEET PG candidates who served as doctors in rural, tribal or “difficult” areas in a state for a minimum of three years receive an additional 10-30 per cent grace marks on their NEET PG scores, which can then be used in the counselling process— provided they obtain the minimum qualifying marks in the examination.
“Many NEET PG aspirants, in hopes of availing these grace marks often undergo three years of service after their graduation. However, if the counselling begins before the individual scorecards are released, these aspirants would be at a disadvantage,” Tyagi says.
He explains that without their scorecard, the candidates would have no basis to calculate their grace marks with.
“In such a situation, the NMC or the Ministry of Health must announce that a certain amount of seats are temporarily reserved for in-service candidates,” he suggests.
“Counselling dates may be announced later than expected”
Despite the ministry’s assurances, Tyagi believes that the counselling dates could be announced much later than two to three days.
“The dates would certainly not be announced before the scorecards are out. I feel that the NBE is biding its time in releasing the scorecards, keeping in light the controversies that surrounded medical exams this year. They are probably being very careful right now in releasing the scorecards,” he explains.
In his opinion, the counselling dates would not be released until the next five days or one week.
