Doctors Meet Health Ministry Officials, Urge to Defer NEET MDS 2024

New Delhi: Taking up the concerns of around 8,000 BDS interns regarding the eligibility criteria, and the lack of preparation time, the doctors under the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) recently approached the Union Health Ministry urging to postpone the exam and grant an extension of the internship completion deadline.

Submitting a letter to the Health Ministry officials, the doctors have urged the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to consider rescheduling the NEET-MDS 2024 exam by a reasonable amount of time- preferably around the time of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) examination.

Further, the association has also requested the Health Minister to consider extending the internship cutoff date for the eligibility. highlighting that granting such a relief would benefit around 8,000 BDS interns.

"Conduct common counselling and admissions after the exam, synchronous with NEET PG," FORDA further urged the Union Health Minister.

"These measures are crucial for the future of MDS aspirants, who are pivotal to your government's vision of a 'Swasthya Bharat". Your prompt action is earnestly awaited to alleviate their distress," the association mentioned in the letter.

Sharing the copy of the letter on social media, FORDA mentioned in an X post, "Our representatives met the officials from @MoHFW_INDIA to put forth the genuine demands of #NEETMDS2024 aspirants. We’ve submitted our letter and requested @mansukhmandviya ji to consider their demands. Based on our interactions, we strongly feel that DCI should’ve done better. It’s up to @MoHFW_INDIA & @OfficeOf_MM now to save the career of so many students."

Although the NEET MDS 2024 examination is scheduled to be conducted on March 18, 2024 by the National Board of Examinations (NBE), the NEET MDS aspirants have been demanding the postponement of the exam to July. Taking to social media, they have highlighted that even if the exam is conducted in March, the counselling would not commence soon.

Also Read: Decide expeditiously on deadline of NEET MDS 2024 internship : SC tells Govt

According to the MDS aspirants, the counselling process for the NEET PG examination and NEET MDS are always conducted together. Therefore, with the NEET PG getting postponed to July, it is unlikely that NEET MDS counselling would be held anytime soon. Terming it to be an "injustice", the aspirants have been demanding that the NEET MDS exam also get postponed till July. 

Raising the concerns of the NEET MDS aspirants, FORDA mentioned in its letter directed to the Union Health Minister, "We write to bring your attention to the critical matter concerning NEET MDS-0004 exam eligibility matter for around 8000 BDS interns, from the 2018 batch of their admission. They've been incessantly pursuing this matter over the course of past few months, and with the exam date approaching, they are faced with a very complex situation concerning their career prospects."

FORDA highlighted the issue of "faulty eligibility criteria" and mentioned that due to the pandemic, the BDS interns have faced a training break, extending their completion dates by varying periods, some finishing as late as by August 2024. Therefore, setting the eligibility criteria cut-off as March 31st unfairly debars them, jeopardizing their careers.

Apart from this, the association also pointed out that the MDS aspirants have an inadequate preparation time. "With only 10 days left for the exam and the uncertainty surrounding it, interns lack the necessary clinical and theoretical knowledge to perform competitively. Postponing the exam will not only make many candidates eligible, but also provide them with time that is imperative for fair preparation," it mentioned.

Further, the association highlighted that the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission (NMC) adjusted the NEET PG dates for MBBS interns affected by COVID this year (to July) but alleged that the Dental Council of India (DCI) failed to do a similar assessment for BDS interns. 

Recently while responding to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by All India Students' Union (AISU), the Union Health Ministry informed the representations for the postponement of the NEET MDS examination are "under process".

Also Read: NEET MDS Postponement request Under Process: Health Ministry Responds to RTI