Call for Fairness, Transparency! Doctors Urge NBE to hold NEET PG 2025 in Single Shift
NEET PG 2025
New Delhi: Doctors across the country remain steadfast in their demand to conduct the NEET PG 2025 exam in a single shift.
As of now, two pleas are pending in this regard before the Supreme Court and amid this, the doctors under the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has written to the Executive Director of the National Board of Examinations (NBE) requesting to conduct the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) examination in a single shift to ensure fairness and transparency.
Highlighting that NEET PG is one of the most crucial examinations for medical graduates, the association argued that the decision to conduct the exam in multiple shifts raises several concerns regarding the integrity of the exam.
"NEET PG is one of the most crucial examinations for medical graduates, determining their career prospects and specialization opportunities. Therefore, maintaining the sanctity and fairness of the examination process is of utmost importance," FAIMA mentioned in the letter dated 23.05.2025, addressed to the NBE Director.
"The decision to conduct NEET PG 2025 in multiple shifts raises several concerns regarding the integrity of the examination. The primary issue is the process of normalization of marks, which has historically been associated with inconsistencies and potential biases. Different question papers in different shifts inherently introduce variations in difficulty levels, making it challenging to establish a truly fair normalization process. This can lead to undue advantages or disadvantages for candidates based on their assigned shift, compromising the examination results' credibility," it further added.
The association argued that a single-shift exam ensures uniformity in difficulty level and eliminates the need for normalization, and it also upholds the transparency and fairness of the selection process.
"Conducting the exam in multiple shifts could also lead to legal challenges and unnecessary disputes. ultimately delayina the admission process and causing distress among aspirants," FAIMA opined in the letter.
"Given the immense stress that medical graduates already undergo in preparing for NEET PG, adding the uncertainty of normalization further exacerbates their anxiety. It is imperative to uphold the confidence of students in the examination system by ensuring an equal playing field for all aspirants. Therefore, we respectfully urge the National Board of Examinations to reconsider the decision and conduct NEET PG 2025 in a single shift to uphold the principles of fairness, transparency, and meritocracy," it further added.
Currently, two pleas are pending before the Apex Court bench challenging NBE's decision to hold the exam in two shifts. One of these pleas was filed by the United Doctors' Front (UDF), and the other one was filed by a group of petitioners, including Dr Aditi.
Even though the doctors have wholeheartedly accepted the Supreme Court's recent directive asking NBE to to publish the raw scores, answer keys and normalisation formula for NEET PG exam, they are demanding that the upcoming NEET PG 2025 exam, scheduled to take place on June 15, should be conducted in a single shift.
One of the main reasons why the doctors are opposing the double-shift NEET PG examination is that they have raised doubts regarding the normalisation formula. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the normalisation formula, regarding which the aspirants have been expressing their doubts, was introduced to neutralise the effect of tougher or easier papers for NEET PG held in multiple shifts. This formula is used to calculate the score, based on which the merit list is prepared.
However, doctors expressed their concerns regarding the normalisation process. Even though the normalisation formula was introduced for NEET PG 2024 to adjust the scores across different exam shifts to ensure fairness, critics have argued that the process is flawed.
A few candidates who appeared in the second shift of the NEET PG 2024 exam had questioned the normalisation formula adopted by NBEMS and further claimed that the board had scammed them in the name of a competitive exam. They pointed out that the Shift 2 paper was tougher compared to Shift 1 and further termed the process of calculating scores as debatable. These concerns were also raised before the Supreme Court, where the aspirants prayed for transparency in the NEET PG 2024 exam.
Also Read: SC’s NEET PG Reforms Win Doctors Praise, But Double-Shift Doubts Remain
