Postpone NEET PG 2021: Maharashtra Aspirants Appeal to State Education Minister for deferment of exam

As the numbers of Covid-19 patients are increasing rapidly in the country and especially in Maharashtra, the nation-wide Post-graduate medical entrance examination, scheduled to be held on April 18, has become a matter of concern for the students.

The National Board of Examinations (NBE) recently released the conduct of NEET PG 2021 with COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour. However, soon afterwards, the hashtag, #postponeneetpg started trending on social media platforms. Many took to Twitter to express their concern regarding appearing for the examination when the country is reporting more than 1.5 lakh cases every day.

Also Read: Postpone NEET PG 2021: Demand for deferment of exam gains momentum

As per the latest media report by the Hindustan Times, hoping for relief, many PG medical aspirants currently working at several hospitals in Maharashtra and the country have approached the State Education Minister Amit Deshmukh asking for his intervention in the matter.

One such NEET-PG aspirant wrote on Twitter, "#AmitDeshmukh Sir ..plz Postpone Neet PG exam on 18th april...we are working in various hospital day night...Try to understand our situation. .our many frds are positive due Corona duty...#postponeneetpg2021 #postponeneetpg."

Another aspirant, who is currently working at a make-shift Jumbo Centre at Pune told Hindustan Times, "We [MBBS graduates] have been working day and night at various government and private hospitals across the state and many of our friends have also contracted the virus in the process. How are we expected to appear for an offline exam at a time when the state is planning to impose another lockdown?"

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that In view of the recent unanticipated surge in COVID 19 cases throughout the country, with the exponential rise of patients in the last seven days, the NBE decided not to defer the examination, as the peak of cases remained unpredictable.

Considering the importance of the examination in admitting post-graduates in their respective subjects for further training, NBE found it to be in the best interest of candidates to continue holding the examination on the announced date. Therefore, NBE decided to add further protective measures for the candidates, towards the safe conduct of the examination.

NBE mentioned taking steps like ensuring same state centre, issuing Covid e-pass, arranging for staggered entry of candidates at the test centre, arranging isolations labs, making usage of masks mandatory among others for the smooth and safe conduct of the NEET PG 2021 examination.

However, the protests from the aspirants started flooding in and many expressed their objections on their Twitter handles.

NEET-PG is an eligibility-cum-ranking examination prescribed as the single entrance examination for admission to various MD/MS and PG Diploma Courses as per Section 61(2) of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 read with 10 (D) of Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. No other entrance examination, either at the state or the Institution level, shall be valid for entry to MD/MS/PG Diploma courses. Qualifying NEET-PG is mandatory for entry to MD/MS/PG Diploma courses under various Universities/ Institutions in the country. NEET PG is mandatory even for foreign nationals seeking admission in medical courses in India.

However, amid all these protests, at last, the National Board of Examination (NBE) has released the admit card for NEET PG 2021. Candidates, who have applied for the NEET PG 2021 exam, can download their admit cards from the official website of the NBE at nbe.edu.in. They have to log in to the portal for downloading the admit cards.

Meanwhile, India witnessed more than 2 lakh Covid-19 fresh cases and Maharashtra alone had almost 59,000 new cases.