Over the past year-and-a-half, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) has undergone several stark and dramatic shifts in its conduct.
From being postponed twice last year amid a paper leak controversy of its undergraduate counterpart, having its format changed to a two-shift exam much to the chagrin of the aspirants, retaining said format for 2025 and having the Supreme Court of India ordering the exam to be reverted to its single shift format on May 30, 2025, the exam had a tumultuous run.
Therefore, when the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) announced that the exam, which was scheduled for June 15 would be postponed to a later, unspecified date, there wasn’t much surprise from the aspirants of the exam, nor from India’s medical community at large.
In fact, some experts maintain that it was bound to happen.
“Several of us realised that the postponement was inevitable when the Supreme Court ordered a single shift. We didn’t voice it out because we didn’t want to speculate and cause panic among the aspirants. But we did see it coming,” said Dr Dhruv Chauhan, medical activist and National Spokesperson for the Indian Medical Association-Junior Doctors’ Network (IMA-JDN).
He added that there was no way that the NBEMS, or any other organisation for that matter, could actually change their exam format in 15 days.
“We are talking about a complete overhaul of the exam in this case. Conducting the exam in one shift means that NBE must accommodate over two lakh aspirants at once. There needs to be more centres and computers, extra staff and security, and extra precautions. Ensuring these would take more time than the NBE had,” he explained.
Adding to this, Rakesh Jain, NEET-PG counsellor and founder of NEET Navigator stated that postponing the exam was unavoidable. “Since it is a Supreme Court order, the NBE must abide by it. If the NBE has to conduct the exam at a later date to do so, I guess nothing can be done about it,” he stated.
“Moreover, the Supreme Court might have considered the fact that the NBE must push the exam date while delivering the order,” he further said.
However, the effects of postponing NEET-PG 2025 would lead to more disruptions to the academic calendar, which would have further ramifications on the medical system, experts say.
“With NEET-PG delayed, the admissions would also be delayed. This batch would be ready for their internship later than usual. This would add extra pressure on resident doctors, as hospitals would not be able to have medical interns on time,” Dr Chauhan explained.
“That said, NEET-PG will be conducted smoothly this year as the NBE has additional time to plan the exam,” he said.
Rakesh Jain stated that the postponement also gave aspirants additional time to prepare.
He further pointed out that this is also a time for the NBEMS to examine its own conduct and management of NEET-PG and several other exams in its ambit.
“The NBEMS is due for some deep introspection regarding its deteriorating management of exams. It started during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was understandable given the circumstances at that time, but now it has all the signs of an internal crisis. They really need to clean up their act,” he stated.
As for when the exam would be conducted, Dr Dhruv Chauhan opined that NEET-PG 2025 would not be conducted until August.
