With the merit list for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2024 exam already released by the National Board of Education (NBE), it is only a matter of time before the counselling schedule for the examination will be announced.
However, NEET-PG aspirants are demanding the exam authorities to temporarily defer the counselling process. Why?
To recall, candidates of the NEET-PG 2024 exam have been highlighting a number of discrepancies in the exam results including non-transparency in the newly instated normalisation process, inflation in cut-offs and discrepancies in scorecards.
In a representation sent to the NBE yesterday, September 4, the aspirants urged the authorities to look into their concerns and defer the counselling process until the issue is addressed.
Speaking about why candidates want the counselling process to be postponed, Dr Akshita Agrawal, a NEET-PG 2024 candidate, explained, “Candidates who have scored ranks up till 20,000 might compromise on their dream branch or preferred city if the counselling is conducted without addressing the concerns. Especially for candidates like me, who have been preparing for over two years, it is a very tough choice to make — whether to give up your dream branch or take another drop year.”
The aspirants are also considering taking legal action and approaching the Supreme Court of India if their demands are not addressed by the exam authorities.
Dr Reema Singh, another NEET-PG aspirant, said that if the NBE does not address the representation submitted by the students in two days, the candidates will take the legal route.
Candidates are also concerned that scheduling the counselling process before the court case could hamper the legal proceedings and turnout.
“The main reason that the aspirants are urging for the counselling to be deferred is because of what we have seen in the Supreme Court regarding other exam-related matters. There is a pattern. The court dismisses the case if the counselling schedule has been announced or already begun, stating that cancelling it at this stage would affect many candidates. Even if you take an example of the NEET-UG hearing, the same happened,” Dr Singh told EdexLive.
EdexLive also contacted Dr B Srinivas, Secretary of the National Medical Commission (NMC), regarding the ongoing concerns within the medical student community.
Addressing the same, he said, “If the counselling will be deferred or not, that is NBE’s call. It conducts the exam on our behalf. We have already communicated with them that the exam should be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.”
