On September 13, the Supreme Court of India heard the case concerning the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2024 result. While many expected the case to be dismissed, a sense of relief has spread among candidates, as the court has taken a significant step forward.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, heard a petition filed by 19 NEET-PG aspirants who are seeking greater transparency in the exam process.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the exam conducting body National Board of Examination for Medical Sciences (NBEMS) regarding the release of the exam answer keys. The case is scheduled for further hearing on Friday, September 20.
What must be noted is that the case was not dismissed outright, as was the fate of a few other exam-related cases. Instead, not only has the NBEMS been issued a notice, but another hearing of the case will be happening too. Both these factors have given a glimmer of hope to the NEET-PG candidates who have complained of rank inflation, similar percentile across large groups of candidates and a general lack of transparency.
EdexLive reached out to PG candidates for their reactions to the NEET-PG hearing.
Dr Reema Singh, an MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) degree holder and NEET-PG candidate, expressed relief that the case was not dismissed and is now eagerly awaiting the next hearing.
“It is a big relief for all of us that the case was not dismissed. Now, we are just awaiting the next hearing in the hope of putting forward our points regarding scorecards, tallying of marks and transparency,” said Dr Reema Singh. She also highlighted the need for clarity on the normalisation process. “We just want to understand how they have executed the normalisation process and want to re-evaluate our results. NBEMS should respond now,” added Singh.
Furthermore, Dr Naizam Nazar, a general practitioner from Kerala and NEET-PG candidate, offered a few constructive suggestions.
“Always give candidates at least seven days to raise complaints regarding any controversial questions and answers before publishing results from at least 2025 onwards, as there was no such portal this year,” he recommended.
Dr Nazar also suggested that individual answer responses be released by NBE to allow candidates to cross-check their answers with the answer key.
In conclusion, Dr Nazar emphasised the need for improvements in the exam process, stating, “The exam should not be conducted in two shifts.”
