NEET 2022 aspirants write to Union Education Minister seeking deferment of exam

New Delhi: Although none of the authorities have responded to the demands for postponement of the NEET UG 2022 examination, the aspirants are not ready to give up and taking the matter before the central government authorities and have now written to the Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.

In the letter, a copy of which is circulating on the social media platforms, the students have pointed out the reasons for which the exam should be postponed and prayed for deferring the exam by a period of 6 weeks so that the aspirants can prepare well for the entrance test.

"Pursuing MBBS and becoming a doctor is a dream of lakhs of students and the emotions of their parents and teachers are connected with this exam. But due the declaration of premature dates, they have started to give up on their dreams. Please allocate them an adequate amount of time so that they can prepare well for the exam," the aspirants mentioned in the letter.

"It's our request to you with folded hands to take up this matter in the interest of the students and provide them with minimum time of 6 weeks and shift the dates to late august or early September so that they can prepare well for the exam," they further added.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 10,000 aspirants had written to National Testing Agency (NTA) requesting to postpone the exam and allocate them with enough time for preparation. Writing to the agency, the aspirants had pointed out how the counselling for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test 2021 was incomplete and the scheduled date for NEET on July 17 is almost clashing with the dates for CUET & JEE Mains.

Also Read: #MODIJIdeferNEETUG: Candidates urge PM Modi to postpone NEET 2022 by one month

"Pursuing MBBS is a dream of lakhs of students and the emotions of their parents and teachers are connected therewith. But due to this declaration of premature dates, they are starting to give up on their dreams. Please allocate them an adequate amount of time so that they can prepare well for the exam," the students had mentioned in the letter.

Escalating their demands further, last week, the aspirants had directly urged the Prime Minister to intervene. Using the hashtag #MODIJIdeferNEETUG, the aspirants started approaching PM Modi directly requesting him to postpone the exam.

While there has been no response regarding the demands of the aspirants, they have now approached the Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan pointing out the reasons for which NEET UG 2022 should be postponed.

They stated how starting from the delayed exam date last year on 12 September, 2021, the entire process for MBBS admission got deferred and it took till the end of April for the completion of the stray vacancy rounds. The timeline for NEET UG 2021 that the aspirants have pointed out is given below:

1. Date of NEET UG 2021- 12 September 2021

2. Results declared on November 1, 2021. (Due to the pending OBC AND EWS QUOTA CASE in the supreme court the counselling was delayed for an unusual period of more than 6 months which is usually completed in 2/3 months.)

3. On April 18, 2022, DGHS decided to hold special stray vacancy round

4. All India Counselling for BDS courses got extended up to May 15, 2022.

5. Stray Vacancy round ended on April 27 for West Bengal, on April 28 for Haryana, on April 26 for Uttar Pradesh, and on April 27 for Gujarat. 

"Every year the students are given a minimum cooling period of about 6 to 8 months for the next attempt after all the admission processes are completed and the new academic session is started. This year students are barely getting 3 months cooling period. This abrupt reduction in time of preparation has created a situation of distress amongst the students who are participating till the last round of counselling and are afraid that they may miss the chance this year by a margin of very less marks," the students pointed out in the letter.

They also referred to the fact that CUCET exam is closely scheduled with the NEET UG 2022. "Central University Entrance Test-2022 is scheduled in the 1st and 2nd week of July. The syllabus of these tests is quite different which includes 2 Language tests, domain specific tests and General tests, which require due time & preparation to be thorough with the course. Due to proximity of the dates for both the tests the students are in dilemma as for which test they should prepare and where to focus," read the letter.

Referring to the clashing of dates with EAMCET, the letter mentioned, "The Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) which is conducted in the states of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana for admission to colleges in the states are scheduled on 14th, 15th,18th , 19th & 20th July which also hold very close proximity with the date for NEET (UG)-2022 which is creating panic amongst the students of the particular states."

The aspirants also mentioned how previously, before the pandemic, the students only Class 11th syllabus i.e. ½ of NEET UG syllabus in 45 days. As the students used to revise whole Class 12th syllabus during boards itself.

Apart from all these factors, the students also pointed out how the MBBS admission for the current academic year has been delayed and "the first professional has been compressed to eleven months instead of thirteen months. Therefore the new session cannot be started before 2023 tentatively. So an extension of 6 weeks will not hamper the admission procedure and new academic session can begin as per schedule."

Recently Dr Rohan Krishnan, the president of FAIMA doctors association also shared the copy of the letter and mentioned, "I have read their concerns & they r also a victim of unplanned system of MCC & other government organisations."