NO Postponement of NEET PG 2022: Supreme Court

On May 10, the top court had agreed to hear the plea by doctors after repeated demands to the central government to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate Admissions, NEET PG 2022 exam, citing the delay and clash with the ongoing NEET PG 2021 counselling.

Contemplating the issue, the bench of honourable Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant held that the delay would cause unavailability of doctors and seriously affect patient care.

It said the postponement of the examination would create "chaos and uncertainty" and would affect the larger section of students, who have registered for the examination.

"There are two categories of students — one which is seeking postponement and the larger category of over two lakh six thousand candidates — who would be affected by the postponement after having prepared for the examination", the bench said.

It noted that the government is trying to bring back the schedule of examination on time as it was affected due to the pandemic.

"As the country gets back on the rails, which was derailed due to the pandemic, the time schedule laid down by this court must be adhered to", it said.

The counsel: Senior Advocates Rakesh Khanna, Anand Grover and P Wilson appearing for the doctors pointed out that the Counselling process for 2021 has been going on since May 21 in many states and the students, while running from "pillar to post" for the 2021 counselling, were not in a frame of mind to prepare for the 2022 exams. The petitioners argued that an extension of 4-8 weeks will cause no prejudice to anyone, and will in fact give more time to all students to prepare.

In contention, Additional Solicitor General Aiswarya Bhati appearing for the Union Government submitted that if the 2022 exams are held as per the proposed schedule, it will create a situation where 2021 and 2022 students are studying in the same year and the colleges do not have the infrastructure facilities to cater to both batches simultaneously.

ASG Bhati submitted that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had seriously deliberated on the issue and took a conscious decision on May 10 to not postpone the exams for reasons bearing on public interest and health care. She submitted that the postponement will have a "cascading effect" on future admissions and other courses. She also highlighted the issue of deficiency of fewer resident doctors in hospitals due to delay in completion of PG admissions. "Any delay would infract upon patient care, since this will lead to fewer number of resident doctors as they are supposed to be three batches of PGS doctors available in hospitals but as opposed to this only two batches are available due to delay", she said.

"Some of the petitioners and aspirants are the candidates who have appeared in NET PG 2021 and are participants in the ongoing counselling process which is unlikely to get concluded by 9.5.2022 considering the roller-coaster ride which they have been subjected to since July 2021. The petitioners and other thousands of aspirants are becoming the victim of the system and are made to suffer for no fault of their own," the plea states, as quoted by LiveLaw.

Doctors in the petition had further stated that the doctors cannot be deprived of even filling up of forms for NEET PG Examination 2022, as the last date for it was closed on 25.3.2022 and the petitioners being participants in AIQ Mop-up counselling did not fill form then in hope of getting a seat and now after the cancellation of AIQ Mop-up on 31.3.2022.

Along with seeking to quash the notification dated February 4, 2022 issued by NBE for holding NEET PG 2022, doctors in the plea have further sought for notification of a fresh date after 8 weeks so that the issue of the NEET PG 2021 counselling exam gets settled.

According to LiveLaw Report, The bench observed the order as follows :

"As regards to the submission that postponement will not cause prejudice, what must be borne in mind is that there are students who have registered. As the country gets back on the rails after the disruptions caused due to the pandemic, the time schedule must be adhered to.

Any delay in conducting the exam will result in fewer number of resident doctors. This year only 2 sets of doctors are there. The request cannot be entertained due to the reason that it would have affect on the patient care and the career on the doctors.

These are matter which pertain to policy domain. Unless the same is manifestly arbitrary there is no need to consider the same. Needs of patient care & treatment must be paramount in the clash of the ones who have registered & those who have not registered".

The bench noted that nearly 2 lakh six thousand doctors have registered for the exam.

"What must be borne in mind by the court is that there is a large body of students on the other hand and needs of patient care cannot be ignored...Over 2 lakh 6000 doctors have registered, and they will be put to prejudice if the exam is further postponed", the bench observed.

With the Supreme Court verdict being out, the doctors who had knocked on several doors for months, are now dismayed.

Speaking on the top court ruling, Dr Rohan Krishnan, President of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) stated, "We respect the decision of the Honourable Supreme court, but we are extremely sad and disheartened by the ignorance of the society in general and health ministry in particular over the demands of doctors. When entire country doctors have asked for something, which is been done routinely by the health ministry. Such kind of harshness is not expected towards the caregivers."

The association has asked the Honourable Health Minister to reconsider its decision. "Our letter is also submitted at the office of Honourable Prime Minister & I hope that something positive comes out of it," he said.

"We will also be having a meeting of the central council today to discuss further what else we can do to support our junior doctors, he added."

Recently, after getting no positive responses from the concerned authorities including the Union Health Ministry, the doctors under the umbrella of FAIMA approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a deferment of the NEET-PG 2022 exam by 8 to 10 weeks.

Supporting the demands of the students who sought deferment of the exam citing an insufficient time gap between the exam date on May 21 and the NEET PG 2021 counselling, Indian Medical Association had also come forward and wrote to the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in this regard.

Referring to the services of the doctors during the Covid-19 pandemic, FAIMA mentioned in the letter, "We are stunned at the ruthless attitude of those who are currently in power because they are the only ones who once appreciated the doctors who bravely fought COVID-19 as FRONTLINE WORKERS by saying "Your efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic will be recorded in golden letters in history. Salute to the doctors and healthcare workers without whom the journey would not have been possible..."

"This is indeed a sad state of affairs in which the doctors who have always risked themselves and their families in order to serve their country, find their true problem not even recognized today. The COVID pandemic has already cost our hardworking NEET PG 2021 aspirants one academic year, and now the arrogant attitude of the administration threatens to put them in danger of losing yet another year. In the past few months, these aspirants have faced many crests and troughs during NEET PG 2021 counselling process. Now that the counselling process has been delayed, there is not enough time for them to prepare for the next exam, i.e., NEET PG 2022. The counselling process for the NEET PG 2021 examination is expected to get over by the last week of May 2022, while NEET PG 2022 is set to take place on 21st May 2022, which is just 08 days away. Considering that the medical curriculum is so extensive, even attempting a fast-paced review of all 19 medical subjects would take more than 15 days," added the association.