The Union Health Ministry postponed the NEET-PG exams as a “precautionary measure” on Sunday, June 23, leaving many candidates and parents unaware until they arrived at the exam centres, where they discovered the delay. Frustration among the affected has mounted, with allegations of irregularities in exams conducted by the National Testing Agency intensifying stress and tension among aspirants.
1. A video of a woman expressing her frustration is going viral on social media. It is not known if she is a candidate. In the 1 minute video, the woman said, “I just found that the NEET-PG examination that was supposed to be conducted tomorrow at 9.30 am just got postponed, and the circular for postponement was released just 15 minutes ago. That means it was less than 12 hours before the actual paper was supposed to be conducted. Are the people in the Ministry of Education even eligible to make such decisions? Are they even eligible to be in a position of power and change and make policies that will ruin people's lives like this?”
2. She further added, “These are doctors, these are not small kids. They are writing an exam, to stay in this very country that you are ruining with your policies. And then, you have the audacity to ask everybody, ‘Why is everyone leaving the country, such a great system here’”
3. A NEET PG candidate, Sunanda Pansari, speaking to news agency ANI, also expressed her frustration over the repeated postponements of the exam. She said she travelled 600 km only to find it delayed again. "This is extremely wrong. The exam was scheduled for March, which was postponed to July. Later, they postponed their exam and postponed it again. We should have been informed at least 24 hours before. There is no information on the paper leak as of now..."
4. From Gujarat, another candidate, Jyoth Chouhan, told ANI, "NTA informed at the last moment, 10 hours before, that the exam has been postponed. They should have announced that at least a few days ago if they had to reschedule. They didn't distribute exam centres properly, candidates got very far away places as exam centres. Students from Vadodara had exam centres in Nashik and Madhya Pradesh. And then when they reached there, they were informed that the exam had been postponed. All are having great difficulties"
5. One more NEET-PG exam candidate expressed frustration over the exam's last-minute postponement and criticized the government for handling medical exams. The candidate also demanded apologies from the Union Health Minister and Union Education Minister and called for reimbursement of the approximately ₹10,000 each student incurred in travel and other expenses. “ ...NEET-UG exam's paper got leaked, NEET-PG was postponed 12 hours before, NEET-SSC exam date has not been announced yet. This shows how much the government is concerned about the health sector. The Union Health Minister and Union Education Minister must apologise for their actions. Students and doctors have travelled a long way for the exam, and coming here has incurred a lot of expenses. On an average, ₹10,000 was the expenditure. Govt must reimburse these expenditures,” a candidate from Rajasthan said.
6. On June 24, sources from the Education Ministry reported that a seven-member high-level committee, established by the Centre to ensure transparency and review the operations of the National Testing Agency (NTA), is scheduled to meet today, according to ANI.
7. However, IIM Indore Director Himanshu Rai lauded the Centre for postponing the NEET-PG exam. Rai said, "Three things are important for the integrity of any exam. First are people, second is process, and the third is infrastructure... The Education Ministry removed the NTA DG... A high-powered committee has been formed, and ISRO's former chairman and current IIT Kanpur Board of Directors chairman Radhakrishnan is its head... Another important step taken is that the Public Examination Act has been notified, under which there will be a fine of Rs. 1 crore on anyone found guilty... My suggestion is that the infrastructure-related issues must be solved..."
8. The NEET issue has also led to a political slugfest in the country, with the opposition slamming the Centre. Karnataka Home Minister and Congress leader G Parameshwara said, “From the beginning, fraternity of educationists are against it. Karnataka is a role model, we started the CET first in the country and so effectively CET was conducted. There were no complaints, and it went very smoothly. Unfortunately, for so many years now, the NEET exam has been questioned. Papers are leaking, there are valuation problem, compilation of data problem, counseling problem. All this has put lakhs of students in jeopardy. I feel states should be given this opportunity to conduct the exams like before, and anybody who wants to get admission to a particular statewill choose their options and then get into the institutions...”
9. UGC Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar also addressed the NEET controversy. He stated that the government is taking steps to protect students' interests and the integrity of exams conducted by the NTA. "The government has also formed a high-level committee headed by Dr K.Radhakrishnan, a former chairman of ISRO. This committee will provide recommendations in two ways: the restructuring of NTA and its functioning, the entire gamut of the processes involved in the examination, and the data security protocols. All these issues will be looked at by this committee, and they will provide the recommendations to ensure that these examinations are conducted fairly transparently and have credibility..."
10. The dates for the examination originally planned for June 23 will be announced soon.
(With inputs from agencies)
