Demand for NEET PG 2025 in Single Shift Escalates!

New Delhi: The demands for holding the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025 exam are escalating since the exam date announcement.

Doctors across the country have been expressing their concerns over the conduct of the upcoming NEET PG 2025 exam after the NBEMS announced that the PG medical entrance test i.e. NEET PG would be held on June 15, 2025, in two shifts.

The first shift is scheduled from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM, and the second from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM. Medical Dialogues has been reporting about how the NBEMS's decision to hold the exam in two shifts has sparked a significant backlash among medical aspirants and professionals, primarily due to concerns over the normalization process.

While for NEET PG 2024, the normalization formula was introduced to adjust the scores across different exam shifts to ensure fairness, critics have argued that the process is flawed.

Recently, the Bihar Chapter of the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors Network (IMA-JDN) wrote to the Executive Director of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) in this regard. Similar demands were also made by the doctors in Uttar Pradesh, where the CMJ Doctors Welfare Federation India (DWF) urged the Union Health Minister Shri J.P. Nadda to intervene and direct the NBEMS to reconsider its decision to hold the exam in two shifts. 

Now, the doctors' demands have been raised in the Parliament also with the Kerala MP Kodikunnil Suresh recently requesting the Lok Sabha for an adjournment motion to address the "serious concerns" regarding the transparency in the NEET PG exam.

Also Read: NEET PG 2025 in Two-shift format sparks Controversy

NEET PG 2024 was conducted on August 11, 2024, in two shifts i.e. from 9 am to 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm for admission to MD, MS, DNB, and Diploma Courses of 2024-25 admission session. However, a few candidates who appeared in the second shift of the exam questioned the normalization formula adopted by NBEMS and further claimed that the board scammed them in the name of a competitive exam. They pointed out that the Shift 2 paper was tougher compared to Shift 1 and further termed the process of calculating scores as debatable. These concerns were also raised before the Supreme Court, where the aspirants prayed for transparency in the NEET PG 2024 exam.

After the announcement that NEET PG 2025 will also be held in two shifts, doctors across the country have started opposing the same. Previously, the move was criticized by Medical Education Activist Dr. Vivek Pandey, who had urged NBE to reconsider its decision. All India MBBS Doctors Association (AIMDA), United Doctors Front (UDF), and the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) recently expressed concerns over the decision to hold the exam in two shifts. Meanwhile, the demands in this regard are escalating as more doctors' associations are coming forward with similar demands.

IMA JDN Bihar Writes to NBE: 

Writing to the Executive Director of the National Board of Examinations (NBE), the Bihar chapter of IMA JDN has appealed to conduct the NEET PG 2025 exam in a single shift to ensure fairness and transparency.

Expressing their concerns over the decision to conduct the NEET PG 2025 in two shifts instead of a single shift, the association mentioned in the letter directed to the NBE Executive Director, "As a crucial examination determining the career prospects of medical graduates, NEET-PG must be conducted with the highest standards of fairness and transparency. Conducting the exam in two shifts raises serious concerns about the integrity of the selection process."

"The primary issue lies in the normalization process, which has historically been inconsistent and prone to biases. Different question papers across shifts inherently introduce variations in difficulty levels, making it challenging to implement a truly fair normalization system. This could lead to disparities in results, unfairly benefiting some candidates while disadvantaging others," the letter further mentioned.

Relying on the recent example of massive dissatisfaction among aspirants in Bihar, where BPSC has not yet transitioned to a single-shift exam, the letter added, "This has led to widespread protests by candidates demanding a fair and transparent process. The frustration and unrest caused by multiple-shift exams with normalization issues clearly indicate the urgent need for reform in major competitive exams."

"We strongly believe that adopting a single shift format for NEET-PG 2025 would be a step in the right direction. Additionally, two shifts could lead to legal challenges and delays in the admission process, further increasing stress among aspirants. Given the immense pressure that medical graduates already face, adding uncertainty through normalization only exacerbates their anxiety. In light of these concerns, we strongly urge the National Board of Examinations to reconsider this decision and conduct NEETPG 2025 in a single shift to maintain fairness, transparency, and merit-based evaluation," it added.

Also Read: Reconsider NEET PG exam in Multiple Shifts- Doctor urges NBE

UP Doctors Seek Health Minister's Intervention: 

UP Doctors under the Doctors Welfare Federation (DWF), recently wrote to the Union Health Minister Nadda and requested for reconsideration of NEET PG 2025 exam in two shifts. A copy of the letter was also sent to the NBEMS Executive Director, the Chairperson of the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Secretary of the Union Health Ministry, and DDG(ME), MoHFW.

Referring to the NBEMS notification dated 17th March 2025, where the decision to conduct the exam in two shifts was announced, the doctors urged the Minister to reconsider the decision and ensure that the NEET PG 2025 exam is conducted in a single shift.

"The conduct of multiple-shift examinations has resulted in serious challenges in fairness, transparency, and trust in the evaluation process, as evidenced by the issues encountered in NEET-PG 2024," the doctors mentioned in the letter.

As per the association, the key issues that arise from a two-shift exam include normalization discrepancies, legal complexities, and it also affects the confidence of the aspirants and adds to their mental stress.

Explaining why the NEET PG 2025 exam should be held in a single shift, the association argued that it would help in a uniform and fair evaluation, contribute to legal robustness and transparency and trust in the examination process.

Accordingly, the association has urged the Minister to intervene and direct NBEMS to reconsider its decision. "We strongly advocate for a return to the single-shift format, which ensures fairness, transparency, and trust in the evaluation process," stated the letter.

Kerala MP Raises Concerns Regarding Conduct of NEET PG exam: 

Kerala MP Kodikunnil Suresh has also raised the concerns on NEET PG exam as he requested the Lok Sabha recently for an adjournment motion to address the concerns regarding the transparency issue of the PG medical entrance test.

Sharing a copy of the adjournment motion on X (formerly Twitter), Suresh wrote, "I have given notice in Lok Sabha to discuss and ensure fair practices in #NEETPG 2025. The future of our medical aspirants must not be compromised due to irregularities and systemic failures. Transparency & accountability are non-negotiable!"

In the adjournment motion, addressed to the Lok Sabha Secretary General, Suresh expressed his wish to discuss the serious concerns regarding the recently announced NEET-PG 2025 examination process, pointing out that it affects thousands of medical aspirants across the country.

According to him, even though the exam is slated for June 15, 2025, several critical issues remain unsolved, raising serious apprehensions about transparency, fairness, and equal opportunity in the selection process.

One of the issue that he pointed out is the lack of clarity on the normalization criteria. According to him, since the exam will be conducted in two shifts, differences in difficulty levels may impact the ranking process.

"The government has failed to predefine and publish a transparent normalization formula, leading to concerns of bias and inconsistency," the adjournment motion read.

Regarding the issue of non-disclosure of answer keys, the motion stated, "Unlike NEET-UG, the NEET-PG examination process does not include the release of answer keys, preventing candidates from verifying their responses. This lack of transparency raises doubts over the evaluation process and final rankings."

Apart from this, he also raised the issue of unclear service PG score criteria and pointed out that many aspirants from service backgrounds have reported confusion regarding the calculation of service PG scores, including bonus marks and eligibility conditions. He opined that the absence of a predefined and publicly available framework has led to anxiety and potential injustice to eligible candidates.

"Given the widespread distress and lack of clarity in the NEET-PG 2025 process, it is imperative that the government takes immediate action to ensure fairness in medical admissions. This issue directly impacts the careers of thousands of medical graduates and the future of healthcare in India. Therefore, I urge the House to immediately adjourn all other business and hold an urgent discussion on this pressing matter," read the motion.

Also Read: Controversy erupts over NEET PG 2025 conduction, Doctors Slam Two-Shift Format