For medical aspirants in India, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET-PG) has become a never-ending saga of postponements, irregularities, and last-minute disruptions.
The latest concern is the feasibility of conducting NEET-PG 2025 on June 15, given that the 2024 counselling process is still dragging on. The systemic delays have turned NEET-PG into a vicious cycle, forcing students into years of uncertainty, with no clear roadmap for resolution.
This pattern isn’t new.
Since its inception in 2016, NEET-PG has struggled with timely execution. However, post-COVID, the situation has escalated into what seems like a complete administrative failure.
In 2024, the exam was infamously cancelled just ten hours before it was scheduled to begin.
The years 2022 and 2023 saw repeated calls for postponement, as students barely had three months to prepare after the delayed counselling process ended in December.
“It has never been on time”
Dr Dhruv Chauhan, a medical activist, explains that NEET-PG has always been plagued by disruptions, whether it be preponements, postponements, or technical irregularities. But after COVID-19, the system has been completely off track.
The most affected are resident doctors, who are forced to bear the brunt of these delays.
“For example, PG1 students who were admitted in 2023 are still in their first year because the 2024 counselling hasn’t finished yet — even though it’s already 2025. There is no continuity, and hospitals are struggling as junior doctors aren’t available to take over duties. It’s the failure of the exam-conducting bodies,” he says.
Despite the announcement of the NEET-PG 2025 exam dates, the ongoing backlog suggests that history is set to repeat itself.
With state counselling, mop-up rounds, and stray vacancy rounds still pending, students are stuck in an exhausting loop, preparing for an exam that is repeatedly postponed or derailed by administrative mishaps.
Administrative failures and bureaucratic roadblocks
Dr Aviral Mathur, President of the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), identifies a mix of bureaucratic inefficiencies, administrative mismanagement, and student concerns as the root of these delays.
The 2023 debacle, where colleges failed to submit internship completion data to the National Medical Commission (NMC) on time, led to massive confusion. A few students completed their internship in March, others in May, and many were left ineligible because their colleges finished late.
The lack of coordination has disrupted one of the most critical national-level exams. This push-and-pull has been happening for four years now, with COVID-19 still casting long shadows over the process.
“However, 2025 is a crucial year as two PG batches will be completing their degrees, one in March and another in October-November. If the cycle is not streamlined this year, medical colleges could face an unprecedented crisis, with an entire batch missing from hospitals. It would be a disaster, burdening the already broken system,” Dr Mathur warns.
He stresses that systemic reform is essential to prevent a spillover effect where delays continue indefinitely, creating an even bigger crisis for future aspirants and hospitals alike.
The chaotic medical education system
Dr R Karthikeyan, Founder of the Aatrupadai Foundation and a NEET-PG aspirant himself, highlights the deep-rooted structural flaws within India’s medical education system.
“There is no transparency in the NEET-PG process, and the entire PG admission cycle from the exam to counselling to duty hours is chaotic. A major issue is the lack of uniformity across different states. Variations in exam schedules and internship timelines across states create unnecessary ineligibilities for students who should otherwise be able to appear for NEET-PG,” he says.
According to him, the only long-term solution lies in creating a unified undergraduate (UG) medical curriculum across all states.
“A fixed UG schedule that every state follows is the only way to bring stability to NEET-PG. Without that, the problem will continue year after year,” he says.
A never-ending cycle of uncertainty
The repetitive nature of these delays has turned NEET-PG into a symbol of systemic failure. Year after year, students find themselves stuck in the same situation, battling uncertainty and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
Despite paying hefty application fees, medical aspirants are left in limbo, while other national exams like the Union Public Service Commission - Civil Services Examination (UPSC-CSE) continue to run smoothly with a fraction of the budget.
Unless the medical education authorities take urgent corrective action, 2025 might become yet another year of disruptions adding to the long list of broken promises and failed timelines, say experts.
The medical community can only hope that this time, things will finally change. But if history is any indication, students should brace themselves for yet another cycle of uncertainty, they warn.
