New Delhi: Referring to the complaints from the aspirants regarding the management of NEET-PG 2022 examination, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has now slammed the National Board of Examinations (NBE) which was in charge of conducting the exam on May 21, 2022.
While on the one hand, the association addressed the problems faced by the students at the examination centres, which included absence of fans, poor sanitation facilities, power cut, unavailability of drinking water, etc. on the other they questioned the exorbitant fees collected by NBE for conducting the examination.
"It is SHAMEFUL for the National Board of Examination (NBE) to charge such EXORBITANT FEES for merely appearing in an examination, and do not even provide water to students at such high temperatures. A crucial examination like NEET-PG, which is conducted once a year, has been undertaken this year in such a manner which is beyond comprehension by our young medical students aspiring to pursue o specialisation in their dream branch," read the Press Release of FAIMA.
Also Read: Hold NEET PG twice a year: ABVP tells Health Ministry
As per FAIMA, the aspirants of NEET PG 2022 examination complained of the following problems at the examination centres:
• Despite such scorching heat, not even fans were operating in the centres despite the recorded temperature for that day being over 40 degrees Celsius.
• Poor sanitation facilities
• Poor conduct of invigilators toward such qualified doctors
• Electricity cuts at the examination centre with no backup power
• The centre did not provide drinking water bottles
• Students at the centre were not provided with pens
"The problems listed above are just a few of many that these aspirants faced on the day of their examination. Problems such as these only make the process of examination more frustrating for these already anxious students on such a significant day," the association pointed out.
"We would like to reiterate the fact that for smooth conduct of an examination, apart from other important administrative functions, an organization should also ensure a few of the following facilities for the students at the examination centre, including a suitable and safe environment with en appropriate temperature as per weather, basic sanitation facilities, hygienic washrooms, proper facility for eatables as well as provision of packaged drinking water to the students along with a competent and student-friendly staff, who guide the students through the cumbersome candidate identification process in the most efficient manner and assist them if they ore stuck, with proper electricity back up at the examination centre and proper working systems in order to ensure that the students do not get distracted from their examination," it added.
Urging the authorities to look into the matter at the earliest, the association pointed out, "In the current situation of our country, we need more specialists to serve the people, and exams like NEET-PG should not be conducted by the authorities in power in such an arbitrary way. This will only result in a poor outcome, which will further increase the dearth of specialist doctors in our country. In light of the mismanagement at the examination centres this year, we urge that the responsible authorities look into the matter as soon as possible."
"We also request clarifications regarding the same. Furthermore, we request the concerned authorities to release the answer key for the NEET-PG 2022 examination as soon as possible," further read the release.
Speaking to Medical Dialogues regarding the issue, the President of FAIMA Doctors' Association, Dr. Rohan Krishnan said, "NBE is charging 1500 for NEET UG exam and 5000 for NEET PG. It is unacceptable because various platforms in India is conducting online medical exams at 1000-1500 very smoothly. This fee should be revised and should be minimal because one student gives this exam more than once."
"Also various organisations such as AIIMS, Delhi , AIIMS Rishikesh, INICET, ESI releases an answer key next day after exams and gives clear cut data of which questions were marked right / wrong by candidate. These our computer based exams and do not require any extra work. But NBE lacks transparency in this which should change," he further mentioned.
"Also minimum criteria should be fixed for allocation of examination centres, where Drinking water, clean toilets , air conditioners or air coolers should be present. We have had a lot of complaints from students that there were no proper arrangements for the candidates. This culture should change," Dr. Krishnan added.
It should be mentioned in this context that doctors had been demanding the deferment of NEET PG 2022 examination citing inadequate time gap between the counseling of NEET PG 2021 and the date for NEET PG 2022. FAIMA Doctors' Association had supported these demands of aspirants and had urged the Union Health Ministry time and again to defer the exam.
However, ultimately, the exam did not get deferred and was conducted on its scheduled date on May 21, 2022. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that soon after the exam, Dr. Rohan Krishnan had questioned the huge fee collected by NBE only for the sake of organising the online examination. He had also referred to the problems faced by the students at the examination centres and had pointed out that NBE could not answer in the RTI queries regarding the expenditure for conducting the NEET PG exam in the previous years. Referring to all these things, Dr. Krishnan had alleged in his Tweet that it is "clear cut loot" by NBE.
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