Postpone NEET PG 2023: Doctors to protest at Jantar Mantar, demand resignation of Union Health Minister
New Delhi: Upset with the silence from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regarding the demands of the students for posponement of NEET PG 2023 exam, the doctors under the umbrella of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) have now decided to organize a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar on Sunday i.e. February 5, 2023.
In this regard, the association has already written to the Deputy Commissioner of Police seeking permission for peaceful protest by NEET PG aspirants.
Further, the doctors are also seeking the removal of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and urging the Prime Minister for bringing back Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Speaking about this, Dr Manish Hangra, the Chief Advisor of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) told Medical Dialogues, "Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya didn't meet the delegation of FAIMA and disregarded their request for postponing NEET PG. So, we are urging the Prime Minister for bringing back Dr Harsh Vardhan who used to have a sympathetic attitude towards the problems faced by the doctors."
In this regard, FAIMA has also organized a Twitter Storm at 4 PM today and doctors are Tweeting the hashtag #ResignMansukhMandaviya to express their demands.
After the Twitter Storm, FAIMA will organize a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar and if the authorities do not pay notice to the demands of the students, they will consider shutting down OPD services which might lead to a total shutdown.
Also Read: NEET PG 2023: FAIMA to meet Health Minister soon seeking postponement of Exam
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that FAIMA had written to the Union Health Minister and pointed out that around 10,000 NEET PG aspirants were ineligible for appearing in the exam. Therefore, the association had urged the authorities for postponing the exam by 2-3 months and reconsider the eligibility criteria.
National Board of examinations (NBE) had earlier announced that NEET PG 2023 will be held on 5th March 2023. The result will be declared By 31st March 2023. As per the previous eligibility criteria announced by NBE, the NEET PG 2023 candidates must complete their mandatory one-year MBBS internship on or before March 31.
Later, taking note of the fact that thousands of candidates were ineligible to appear in the examination, NBE had extended the Internship Deadline to June 30, 2023.
Even after postponement of the exam, several thousands of candidates remained ineligible for the exam. In Telangana alone, altogether 3000 students remained ineligible since the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) extended the internship completion date of MBBS students till August 11. Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) alone has about 200 interns who are now ineligible for writing the PG medical entrance test.
On January 24, 2023, taking up the issue of such candidates, FAIMA had written to the Union Health Minister. "Every year lakhs of post MBBS doctors appear in this exam chasing their dream. Each Medical Specialist doctors add to strength on ground doctor which helps the patient & society in their best possible ways they could they can and also who plays a significant role in providing strength to existing health care system of this country which has also been proved during the Covid Pandemic."
It was decided that the association would meet the Union Health Minister on January 31 to discuss about the matter. Even though the FAIMA delegates approached the Ministry the meeting got rescheduled because of the ongoing Budget session in the Parliament.
However, despite several attempts by the FAIMA delegation, the doctors reportedly could not meet the Union Health Minister and therefore they have decided to opt for peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar.
Writing to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in this regard, FAIMA mentioned, "With due respect and heavy heart we want to convey you the concern of COVID warriors regarding the #NEETPG2023. We tried our level best to communicate to Hon'ble Health Minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviya ji regarding our demands. We requested through official routes. But we were not given any support from Health Minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviya ji. That forced us to come on this step after this."
"We Doctors on behalf of FAIMA want to peacefully protest on Jantar Mantar in around 100 numbers. We assure you our protest will be apolitical & peaceful. We want to show our plea in front of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. We have left with no other option except protesting peacefully. We don't want public to suffer in this demand," the letter further mentioned.
"It is humble request to you kindly give us permission to do peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar on 5th of February(Sunday)," it added.
Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, the doctors have now started urging the Prime Minister to listen to the genuine demands of the NEET PG aspirants. They are also using the hashtag #ResignMansukhMandaviya to express their disappointment with the Union Health Minister.
The NEET PG aspirants are expressing their frustration in the social media platforms and #NEETPG2023 is trending on Twitter. One user wrote, "#PostponeNEETPG2023 #WeWantBackDrHarshwardhan Is there no one to understand what the doctors are asking for? Please delay #NEETPG2023 till atleast June. Conducting councelling for 6-7 months is only waste of time. @PMOIndia."
"Let us decide what is best for us. You cant end the counseling in mid jan and give 1.5m to students to prepare. This is not some maths quiz," wrote another user.
Another user opined that the Government should consider both the requests including the Internship Deadline and the postponement of the exam. The Tweet read, "We either need both eligibility n postponement or neither Please don't make matters worse by just increasing eligibility!! Can't afford to sit at home for 5 months in anxiety! #neetpg2023"
While the FAIMA representatives were unable to meet the Union Health Minister, the delegation of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) recently met Shri Mansukh Mandaviya and requested him for postponing the exam and extending the MBBS internship deadline until July 31, 2023.
Also Read: NEET PG 2023 application Edit window opens, make changes till Feb 3
