NEET PG 2024 exam date will be declared by next week: NBE President

New Delhi: Following the postponement of NEET PG 2024 slated for June 23, 2024, and the consequent review of the exam process by the top officials from the Union Health Ministry and the National Board of Examinations (NBE), the NBE President has announced that the next date for the examination will be declared by next week.

Dr Abhijat Sheth, President, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) also said that the SOPs and protocols will be reviewed as soon as possible.

Dr Sheth's statement came after a review meeting held between officials of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences and the Union Health Ministry, to access the situation and input received by the government before postponing the examination.

"The integrity of this examination was never in doubt as far as NEET PG is concerned. For the last seven years, we have conducted so far successfully... Because of the recent events, what has happened that there were lots of concerns about all these sorts of examinations from the student communities and in response to that, the government has decided to ensure once more to make sure that the sanctity of the examination the safety and security must be maintained. So they have decided to review the SOPs and protocols as soon as possible. We will declare the next due date in one next week...," said Abhijat Sheth while speaking to ANI.

Further, on the advisory issued against social media messages, and fraudsters, warnings, he said, "This was for protection; that's why we published the SOPs before the examination, this is all perception, social media is so vast these days that sometimes it gives the wrong message to the students, and we wanted students should remain on the right path."

Speaking about the meeting between the officials of NBEMS and the Health Ministry he said, "It was mainly related to review of the processes for computer-based examination and the inputs received by the government. Directions have also been given by the government to the examination body and to Tata Consultancy Services, a technical partner of NEBMS.

"We certainly work closely to ensure that even minor shortcomings are been taken care of," Dr Sheth added.

The government has postponed the NEET-PG 2024 examinations following rising controversy regarding alleged exam "irregularities" in the NEET-UG exam held on May 5.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Ministry had informed that the exam was being postponed after considering the incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations.

"Taking into consideration, the recent incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations, Ministry of Health has decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of processes of NEET-PG Entrance Examination, conducted by National Board of Examinations for medical students. It has accordingly been decided, as precautionary measure to postpone the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, scheduled to be held tomorrow i.e. 23rd June, 2024," the Union Health Ministry stated in a release.

However, since the exam was deferred only hours before the actual exam date, several candidates and parents arrived at the exam centres unaware that it had been postponed. They rued allegations of irregularities plaguing exams conducted by the National Testing Agency and asserted that it was adding to their already heightened stress and tension.

Earlier, the Ministry of Education said it had constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvements in data security protocols, and the functioning of the NTA. The 7-member committee, led by ISRO former chairman Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, will submit its report to the ministry in the next two months.