INI SS July 2023: Altogether 2500 Candidates might become ineligible to join courses, MARD writes to DMER seeking extension

Mumbai: Raising the issue faced by altogether 2500 MD/MS candidates who may become ineligible to join Super-speciality courses even after clearing INI-SS July 2023, the doctors under the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) have recently written to the State Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).

The doctors are facing this problem due to the postponement of the final year MD/MS exams to the month of June. With the exam getting postponed, the results are unlikely to be published before July 31, 2023, which is the cut-off date for INI-SS admission for July 2023 session.

"Covid-19 pandemic is to blamed for this situation. Due to the pandemic, the admission for 2020 batch MD/MS students got delayed and as a result, the final exams have also been delayed," Dr Vedang Mahajan, Vice President of MARD told Medical Dialogues.

Writing to the DMER Maharashtra in this regard, MARD mentioned, "We would like to bring to your notice regarding the released date of INI (Institutes of National Importance) Super Speciality July 2023 session tentatively scheduled to be on 29th April 2023. Exam going students under the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), approximately 2500 in number are appearing for their final year MD/MS exams in the month of June thus rendering the whole batch ineligible to appear for the INI SS July 2023 session. This will cause a huge loss and a loss of academic year to students of this batch."

Also Read: AIIMS To Begin Registration Process For INI SS July 2023 Session From Tomorrow

Urging the authorities to forward the appeal for extending the cut-off date for joining the INI super speciality courses for July 2023 session, the association further mentioned, "We request you to forward our appeal to extend the last date of joining for the INI SS July 23 session to accommodate the affected students."

Explaining the matter in detail, Dr Mahajan told Medical Dialogues, "Normally the MUHS students do not face any problem because the final exams are held somewhere around in April/May and the results come out in June. However, this year the students are facing troubles due to the postponement of MD/MS exams in Maharashtra. The exams got postponed to June 20th and if we go by the normal rule, we will not receive the results till July 31, 2023. So, even if some people clear the exam, they will not be eligible to join the super speciality courses for the July 2023 session."

He blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the messed up academic calendar and mentioned, "All over the country, 2020 batch had joined the MD/MS courses one month late because of the COVID situation. So we were expecting that INI will shift the dates and move it little bit behind. As of now they have not delayed it and the dates have been kept the same. Before anything happens, we wanted to talk to the DMER and so we have written to the authorities in this regard."

"As a student we cannot request any organisation to change the date of the exam. That is not fair. We are not requesting either the University of INI for changing the date of the exam. All we are asking is to keep us eligible. And it is not a big margin even. While July 31 is the cut-off date to join INI-SS courses, our results are likely to be published within the first week of August. So, the margin will be missed by merely a week or two. That is why we are requesting the authorities to extend the cut-off joining date by one week or two," he further added.

Also Read: AIIMS Postpones Online Registration Process For INI SS July 2023 Session