NEET PG: Doctor Slams Double Shift, Alleges Lack of Transparency in Normalisation Method
NEET PG 2025
New Delhi: While there is no change in National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences's (NBEMS) plans to hold the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate Exam in two shifts, the protest from the medical fraternity regarding the exam pattern is escalating further.
Recently, Health and Medical Education activist Dr. Dhruv Chauhan raised the issue on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and criticised the regulatory bodies, including NBEMS and National Medical Commission (NMC).
He claimed that last year, due to the lack of time to allocate centres and ensure an exam process, the exam was held in two shifts; no such issue is valid for this year. Despite this, he alleged that the exam is being conducted in two shifts even though there are allegations of irregularities and lack of transparency in the normalisation and marks calculation.
"During foreplay of pre/postponement of NEET PG by NBE and NMC last year with 2 lakh + doctors the reason for double shift was stated as the lack of sufficient time for centres allocation and security . But this year neither there was such issue and yet exam is being conducted in two shift despite knowing about the alleged irregularities and lack of transparency in Normalisation and marks calculation . Last year the shift 2 was comparatively more difficult and losing confidence during that period affects the score and stats of the aspirants relative to other shift which is possible this time as well," Dr. Chauhan mentioned in his X post.
Also Read: 'Two Shift format Unfair!' NEET PG 2025 candidates demand single shift for exam
"Also What sought of democracy are we living in when the aspirants are not even permitted to go through their own answer keys post exam results nor they are responded despite thousands of emails / complaints in the regulatory bodies of NMC and NBE," he added.
Medical Dialogues reported that doctors across the country were upset over the conduct of the upcoming NEET PG 2025 exam after the NBEMS announced that it would be held in two shifts on June 15, 2025. While the first shift is scheduled from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM, the second shift is scheduled from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM.
The doctors expressed their concerns primarily over the normalization process. Even though the normalization 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 normalization 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.
Recently a poll conducted by Shiksha.com revealed that when asked about their opinions on the two-shift NEET PG 2025 examination, 89% of the of the respondents in the poll opposed the idea. While 89% of respondents said "No" to the NEET PG exam in two shifts, 9% respondents supported the idea and the remaining 2% were undecided.
Despite the protests and demands from the aspirants to hold the upcoming PG entrance test in a single shift, NBEMS has not yet announced any changes in its plans of holding the exam in double shifts.
Commenting on the matter, Dr. Dhruv Chauhan, who is also a National Committee member of the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Association (IMA-JDN) told Medical Dialogues, "The entire process is filled with irregularities and lack of transparency and the students also do not have any clarity on how their marks are being calculated.
"Firstly, this is double shift issue was not there previously. Last year, it was introduced because they did not have enough time to allocate centres. Now, NMC and NBE are thinking that double-shift exam is budget-friendly and they are continuing with it," he further mentioned.
Explaining the issues with holding NEET PG in two shifts, he added, "The second shift exam was very difficult last year. If a student has prepared for a normal moderate exam and is suddenly getting high-level questions for which he was not prepared, he will become anxious and may also commit mistakes in the questions that were easier. There is also the issue of normalisation as the students do not understand the process properly and it also has several loopholes."
However, amid these controversies, the NMC Chairperson recently assured the aspirants and doctors regarding the normalization process by pointing out that it is an acceptable practice worldwide.
