News Analysis India

Tag: NEET

  • DMK blames testing agency over NEET, slams BJP-led govt for being ‘spectator’

    Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK on Saturday accused the National Testing Agency of spoiling the sanctity of NEET and blamed the BJP-led government at the Centre for being a ‘spectator’ and backing coaching centres that earned in crores. Yet again, the DMK sought scrapping the national test, saying it alone would protect the sanctity of education sector.

    Referring to the Centre telling the Supreme Court days ago that the grace marks of 1,563 students would be cancelled, DMK’s Tamil mouthpiece ‘Murasoli’ said the BJP government would not have done this if the matter had not been taken to the apex court. Over the years, several irregularities have been happening in NEET and the BJP government did not take note of it, the daily in an editorial on June 15 alleged.

    The irregularities and scams that happened in ‘secret’ so far in the conduct of NEET was held in ‘open’ this year. Only to hide this, the test result that was scheduled to be released on June 14 was advanced to June 4, when the result of Lok Sabha polls was declared. However, the scam got exposed. “We have heard about grace marks, it will be one or two marks. But, how could 70 and 80 marks be termed grace marks? The NTA awarded full marks and this is national injustice.” The BJP government remained ‘servile’ to coaching centres that earned crores every month and it ‘established’ the ‘rule of corporates’ in the education sector too.

    Right from the beginning, Tamil Nadu and key political parties including the DMK have been opposing NEET and the Assembly passed a Bill to exempt the state from the purview of the exam and it was sent to the Centre to secure Presidential assent.

    “We (the state) have requested scrapping NEET or exemption to Tamil Nadu from the test.” The BJP government, however, rejected the staunch opposition as merely political. However, today, the students themselves have realised the ‘fraudulent’ aspects and the affected students approached the top court with a plea to cancel the May 5, 2024 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and sought strong measures to prevent irregularities. “The Supreme Court itself said the sanctity of NEET-UG has been affected and ‘who spoiled the sanctity? it was the National Testing Agency and the BJP government at the Centre was a spectator.”

    On the whole, only abolishing NEET will be the permanent and fair solution to this problem and only then the sanctity of the education sector would be protected.

    On behalf of the NTA and the Centre, the same advocate appeared before the apex court and it makes it clear that there is no difference in stand whatsoever between the agency and the union government. Also, the Centre aided the agency in its decisions. Even after the grace mark scam was exposed, the union government does not appear to have realised its mistake.

    Referring to the retest on June 23 for students whose grace marks were withdrawn, the Dravidian party daily wondered about the nature of the outcome of the exam to be held again. “See the manner in which they (centre/agency) argue (in court) for the coaching centres that earn in crores.”

  • Rajasthan: MBBS Student Caught As Proxy Candidate, 5 Others Detained |

    New Delhi: During the medical entrance exam on Sunday in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, authorities detained an MBBS student who was posing as a NEET aspirant, along with five accomplices. Investigations unveiled a scheme orchestrated by the student’s college peer, Ravi Meena, who allegedly extorted Rs 10 lakh from Rahul Gurjar, the genuine candidate.

    At the exam center, Abhishek Gupta was caught impersonating Rahul Gurjar by vigilant invigilators who promptly alerted the police. Gupta confessed during initial questioning that he had five associates stationed in a car outside the examination venue, Master Adityendra School under the Mathura Gate police station area. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Aklesh Kumar confirmed the detention of all involved parties and assured further investigative measures.

    Aside from Gupta, Meena, and Gurjar, police identified the other detainees as Amit, Dayaram, and Suraj Singh. Concurrently, at a center in Sawai Madhopur, candidates sitting for the NEET-UG exam raised complaints regarding the distribution of question papers. Allegations surfaced that candidates who selected English as their medium received papers in Hindi and vice versa.

    In response to parental outcry over alleged police brutality during protests, the National Testing Agency (NTA) issued a public statement acknowledging an “incorrect distribution” of question papers by the center superintendent. Sadhna Parashar, Senior Director at NTA, emphasized the organization’s commitment to fairness and announced proactive measures. Approximately 120 affected candidates are undergoing reexamination to ensure their academic pursuits remain unaffected by the incident.

  • NEET aspirant dies after being hit by truck in UP’s Saharanpur

    By PTI

    SAHARANPUR: An 18-year-old NEET aspirant on his way to an exam centre was killed after his motorcycle was hit by a truck in Sarsawa area on Sunday, police said.

    The National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) was conducted on Sunday.

    Ruchit Kamboj, a resident of Mohalla Durga Colony, was travelling to Deoband with his friend when the accident occurred, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sagar Jain told PTI.

    Kamboj sustained serious head injuries while his friend escaped with minor injuries, he said.

    A police team took Kamboj to a hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

    The driver of the truck abandoned the vehicle and fled, police said, adding that the body has been sent for postmortem.

    SAHARANPUR: An 18-year-old NEET aspirant on his way to an exam centre was killed after his motorcycle was hit by a truck in Sarsawa area on Sunday, police said.

    The National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) was conducted on Sunday.

    Ruchit Kamboj, a resident of Mohalla Durga Colony, was travelling to Deoband with his friend when the accident occurred, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sagar Jain told PTI.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Kamboj sustained serious head injuries while his friend escaped with minor injuries, he said.

    A police team took Kamboj to a hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

    The driver of the truck abandoned the vehicle and fled, police said, adding that the body has been sent for postmortem.

  • Kota suicides: Human Rights body affirms need to ‘regulate private coaching institutes’

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent notices to the Rajasthan government, the Union secretary of higher education, and the chairperson of the National Medical Commission over the alleged suicide by three students in Kota.

    The NHRC, in a statement on Wednesday, said it has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that the students of a coaching centre allegedly committed suicide in two separate incidents within 12 hours.

    The commission also observed that there is a need to “regulate private coaching institutes.”

    The students were preparing for competitive exams and the incident has put the spotlight back on the punishing pressure that teenagers experience at private institutes in the city for limited seats in pursuing technical and medical education, it said.

    The Commission has observed that that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a “grave issue” of human rights.

    Over the years, Kota has become a hub of private coaching centres for the aspirants of the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET).

    “They are charging a very hefty amount. Students, from across the country, are staying in hostels/paying guest houses with a high expectation of success. This is putting them under a lot of pressure,” the statement said.

    The Commission said it feels that there is a need to formulate a regulatory mechanism and since the regulation of higher education is of the state subject, the need for evolving mechanism shall fall upon the state, in consultation with the central government.

    Accordingly, notices have been issued to the chief secretary, government of Rajasthan; secretary, higher Education, Union Ministry of Education, and the chairperson, the National Medical Commission, and reports sought, it added.

    The chief secretary is expected to submit a detailed report of the incident.

    It must also spell out the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the state about the regulatory mechanism to control the private coaching institutes in view of a large number of reported suicides of students, the NHRC said in the statement.

    In addition, it must also contain a formulation of a long-term plan to adequately address the issue of psychological and behavioural abnormality of the students undergoing coaching in different private institutes in Kota, by providing adequate counselling to them, including the parents, so that they should not feel lonely or under huge pressure of expectation of the family members and the friends, it added.

    The secretary, Ministry of Higher Education is expected to inform about the formulation of the National Action Plan of a proportional increase of the seats in technical education as well as medical education and also to evolve the mechanism to get rid of the rat race of getting admission in the private coaching centres to achieve success in competitive examination of JEE and NEET, the statement said.

    The chairperson, National Medical Commission is expected to inform about initiating some progressive and student-friendly mechanism to get success in NEET without being subjected to huge mental and psychological pressure, while undergoing coaching in private institutions, it said.

    According to the media report, carried on December 13, two of the deceased were from Bihar and the third one was from Madhya Pradesh.

    All three students were taking coaching classes for the NEET — the exam for medical colleges, the statement said.

    NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent notices to the Rajasthan government, the Union secretary of higher education, and the chairperson of the National Medical Commission over the alleged suicide by three students in Kota.

    The NHRC, in a statement on Wednesday, said it has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that the students of a coaching centre allegedly committed suicide in two separate incidents within 12 hours.

    The commission also observed that there is a need to “regulate private coaching institutes.”

    The students were preparing for competitive exams and the incident has put the spotlight back on the punishing pressure that teenagers experience at private institutes in the city for limited seats in pursuing technical and medical education, it said.

    The Commission has observed that that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a “grave issue” of human rights.

    Over the years, Kota has become a hub of private coaching centres for the aspirants of the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET).

    “They are charging a very hefty amount. Students, from across the country, are staying in hostels/paying guest houses with a high expectation of success. This is putting them under a lot of pressure,” the statement said.

    The Commission said it feels that there is a need to formulate a regulatory mechanism and since the regulation of higher education is of the state subject, the need for evolving mechanism shall fall upon the state, in consultation with the central government.

    Accordingly, notices have been issued to the chief secretary, government of Rajasthan; secretary, higher Education, Union Ministry of Education, and the chairperson, the National Medical Commission, and reports sought, it added.

    The chief secretary is expected to submit a detailed report of the incident.

    It must also spell out the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the state about the regulatory mechanism to control the private coaching institutes in view of a large number of reported suicides of students, the NHRC said in the statement.

    In addition, it must also contain a formulation of a long-term plan to adequately address the issue of psychological and behavioural abnormality of the students undergoing coaching in different private institutes in Kota, by providing adequate counselling to them, including the parents, so that they should not feel lonely or under huge pressure of expectation of the family members and the friends, it added.

    The secretary, Ministry of Higher Education is expected to inform about the formulation of the National Action Plan of a proportional increase of the seats in technical education as well as medical education and also to evolve the mechanism to get rid of the rat race of getting admission in the private coaching centres to achieve success in competitive examination of JEE and NEET, the statement said.

    The chairperson, National Medical Commission is expected to inform about initiating some progressive and student-friendly mechanism to get success in NEET without being subjected to huge mental and psychological pressure, while undergoing coaching in private institutions, it said.

    According to the media report, carried on December 13, two of the deceased were from Bihar and the third one was from Madhya Pradesh.

    All three students were taking coaching classes for the NEET — the exam for medical colleges, the statement said.

  • SC allows Tamil Nadu to allocate 50 per cent SS seats in medical colleges to in-service candidates

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Tamil Nadu government to allocate 50 per cent of super-speciality seats in government medical colleges to NEET-qualified in-service candidates for the current academic year.

    The permission was granted by the bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath in a clarification plea preferred by the state government and in-service candidates against HC’s November 18 ruling. 

    HC’s ruling had come in a plea filed by in-service candidates seeking to direct the centre and state to allocate 50% Super Speciality seats in DM/M.Ch. Courses in Government Medical Colleges in favour of in-service Doctors of Tamil Nadu for the Academic Session 2022-2023.

    Noting that since the matter was before the SC, the Madras HC bench of Justice Suresh Kumar had asked the state government to approach the SC seeking clarification regarding the applicability of the Tamil Nadu government notification dated November 7, 2020, of reserving 50% of seats in the Government medical colleges to in-service candidates for the academic year 2022-23.

    “That it is open to the State Government as well as the petitioner herein to approach the Hon’ble Supreme Court to seek any clarification as to the continuation of the order passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court during last year with regard to the conducting of counselling by the State of Tamil Nadu for filling up the 50% seats in Super Speciality courses available in Government Medical Colleges in the State of Tamil Nadu for the academic year 2022-2023 also by following the import of G.O.Ms.No.462 dated 07.11.2020,” HC had said. 

    In N Karthikeyan’s case, the SC bench led by former SC judge, Justice LN Rao had refused to stay the state government’s November 7 notification had expressed a prima facie view that States are competent to provide reservations for in-service doctors in super-speciality medical courses. 

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Tamil Nadu government to allocate 50 per cent of super-speciality seats in government medical colleges to NEET-qualified in-service candidates for the current academic year.

    The permission was granted by the bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath in a clarification plea preferred by the state government and in-service candidates against HC’s November 18 ruling. 

    HC’s ruling had come in a plea filed by in-service candidates seeking to direct the centre and state to allocate 50% Super Speciality seats in DM/M.Ch. Courses in Government Medical Colleges in favour of in-service Doctors of Tamil Nadu for the Academic Session 2022-2023.

    Noting that since the matter was before the SC, the Madras HC bench of Justice Suresh Kumar had asked the state government to approach the SC seeking clarification regarding the applicability of the Tamil Nadu government notification dated November 7, 2020, of reserving 50% of seats in the Government medical colleges to in-service candidates for the academic year 2022-23.

    “That it is open to the State Government as well as the petitioner herein to approach the Hon’ble Supreme Court to seek any clarification as to the continuation of the order passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court during last year with regard to the conducting of counselling by the State of Tamil Nadu for filling up the 50% seats in Super Speciality courses available in Government Medical Colleges in the State of Tamil Nadu for the academic year 2022-2023 also by following the import of G.O.Ms.No.462 dated 07.11.2020,” HC had said. 

    In N Karthikeyan’s case, the SC bench led by former SC judge, Justice LN Rao had refused to stay the state government’s November 7 notification had expressed a prima facie view that States are competent to provide reservations for in-service doctors in super-speciality medical courses. 

  • Next NEET-PG could be the last, to be replaced with MBBS exit test likely to be held in Dec 2023

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG) scheduled for April-May next year could be the last such examination as the admission to PG medical courses thereafter will be based on the results of the National Exit Test to be taken by final-year MBBS students, officials have said.

    At a high-level held on Monday, the National Medical Commission (NMC) is learnt to have conveyed to the Union Health Ministry that it intends to conduct the National Exit Test (NExT) in December 2023, official sources said on Wednesday.

    If held in December 2023, MBBS students of the 2019-2020 batch will have to appear for the exam.

    The results of the exam will also be used for admission to postgraduate medical courses from the 2024-2025 batch, they said.

    According to the NMC Act, NExT will serve as a common qualifying final-year MBBS exam, a licentiate exam to practise modern medicine and for merit-based admission to postgraduate courses and a screening exam for foreign medical graduates who want to practice in India.

    The government had invoked in September the relevant provisions of the NMC Act to extend the time limit for conducting NExT till September 2024.

    According to the law, the commission had to conduct a common final-year undergraduate medical examination, NExT, as specified by regulations within three years of it coming into force.

    The Act came into force in September 2020.

    The sources said the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi may conduct the test instead of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), but a decision on the matter is yet to be taken.

    The NBEMS has been conducting the NEET-PG and NEET-Superspeciality so far in multiple choice question format.

    Conducting NExT requires preparations such as working out modalities, syllabus, type and pattern of the exam, officials said, adding students will have to given adequate time to prepare for it.

    Mock tests would need to be carried out before the main test.

    The importance of NExT lies in the fact that it will be the same for everyone, whether trained in India or any part of the world, and hence it will solve the problem of foreign medical graduates and mutual recognition, officials said.

    NEW DELHI: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG) scheduled for April-May next year could be the last such examination as the admission to PG medical courses thereafter will be based on the results of the National Exit Test to be taken by final-year MBBS students, officials have said.

    At a high-level held on Monday, the National Medical Commission (NMC) is learnt to have conveyed to the Union Health Ministry that it intends to conduct the National Exit Test (NExT) in December 2023, official sources said on Wednesday.

    If held in December 2023, MBBS students of the 2019-2020 batch will have to appear for the exam.

    The results of the exam will also be used for admission to postgraduate medical courses from the 2024-2025 batch, they said.

    According to the NMC Act, NExT will serve as a common qualifying final-year MBBS exam, a licentiate exam to practise modern medicine and for merit-based admission to postgraduate courses and a screening exam for foreign medical graduates who want to practice in India.

    The government had invoked in September the relevant provisions of the NMC Act to extend the time limit for conducting NExT till September 2024.

    According to the law, the commission had to conduct a common final-year undergraduate medical examination, NExT, as specified by regulations within three years of it coming into force.

    The Act came into force in September 2020.

    The sources said the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi may conduct the test instead of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), but a decision on the matter is yet to be taken.

    The NBEMS has been conducting the NEET-PG and NEET-Superspeciality so far in multiple choice question format.

    Conducting NExT requires preparations such as working out modalities, syllabus, type and pattern of the exam, officials said, adding students will have to given adequate time to prepare for it.

    Mock tests would need to be carried out before the main test.

    The importance of NExT lies in the fact that it will be the same for everyone, whether trained in India or any part of the world, and hence it will solve the problem of foreign medical graduates and mutual recognition, officials said.

  • NEET aspirant dies of liver infection in Raj’s Kota, 35 students unwell; polluted water likely cause

    By PTI

    KOTA: An 18-year-old NEET aspirant diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy died during treatment at a private hospital here, an official said on Saturday.

    Victim Vaibhav Roy was among the 36 students from the Jawahar Nagar area here who were suffering from the disease in the last few days. Of these, 18 have recovered, while the others are under treatment at three private hospitals.

    Hepatic encephalopathy is a nervous system disorder brought on by the severe liver disease.

    Kota chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr Jagdish Soni told PTI that three water suppliers in the area were found to be supplying contaminated drinking water to coaching institutes, hostels, and canteens.

    However, he said the exact cause of Roy’s death will be ascertained through a death audit, which is underway.

    Roy was a native of West Bengal but was living with his family in Kaithun town here for several years.

    Dr Rajiv Sharma, who treated Roy, said he was admitted to the hospital for fever and jaundice on October 5, but within a couple of days, he was diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy.

    There was a swelling in his brain which turned severe and he died on Thursday, Dr Sharma added.

    Thirty-five other students tested positive for hepatitis-A recently.

    Following this, a team from the health department collected at least 65 samples of water from various sources, Dr Soni said, adding three water suppliers were found to be providing contaminated water to coaching institutes, hostels and canteens among other places “At least 10-12 coaching students are getting treated for hepatitis-A for over a week,” Dr K K Pareek of S N Pareek Memorial and Multi-specialty Hospital, where most of these students are admitted, said.

    “The infection is most likely to have been caused by contaminated water and food as liver enzymes of the patients were found to be alarmingly high, but all of them are improving,” he said.

    Kota (city) additional district magistrate Brij Mohan Bairwa said the CMHO has been directed to probe the matter and a report from him is awaited.

    KOTA: An 18-year-old NEET aspirant diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy died during treatment at a private hospital here, an official said on Saturday.

    Victim Vaibhav Roy was among the 36 students from the Jawahar Nagar area here who were suffering from the disease in the last few days. Of these, 18 have recovered, while the others are under treatment at three private hospitals.

    Hepatic encephalopathy is a nervous system disorder brought on by the severe liver disease.

    Kota chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr Jagdish Soni told PTI that three water suppliers in the area were found to be supplying contaminated drinking water to coaching institutes, hostels, and canteens.

    However, he said the exact cause of Roy’s death will be ascertained through a death audit, which is underway.

    Roy was a native of West Bengal but was living with his family in Kaithun town here for several years.

    Dr Rajiv Sharma, who treated Roy, said he was admitted to the hospital for fever and jaundice on October 5, but within a couple of days, he was diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy.

    There was a swelling in his brain which turned severe and he died on Thursday, Dr Sharma added.

    Thirty-five other students tested positive for hepatitis-A recently.

    Following this, a team from the health department collected at least 65 samples of water from various sources, Dr Soni said, adding three water suppliers were found to be providing contaminated water to coaching institutes, hostels and canteens among other places “At least 10-12 coaching students are getting treated for hepatitis-A for over a week,” Dr K K Pareek of S N Pareek Memorial and Multi-specialty Hospital, where most of these students are admitted, said.

    “The infection is most likely to have been caused by contaminated water and food as liver enzymes of the patients were found to be alarmingly high, but all of them are improving,” he said.

    Kota (city) additional district magistrate Brij Mohan Bairwa said the CMHO has been directed to probe the matter and a report from him is awaited.

  • NEET horror: NTA fact-finding team to submit report in four weeks in Kerala ‘innerwear’ incident

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The three-member fact-finding team, which will probe Kerala ‘innerwear’ incident, will submit its report in four weeks, the National Testing Agency (NTA) officials said.

    The three committee members are Dr Sadhana Parashar, senior director, NTA; Shylaja O R, Principal, Saraswathi Vidyalaya Arappura Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and Suchitra Shyjinth, Pragati Academy, Perumbavoor Ernakulam.

    According to NTA, the committee members will visit the spot and verify the facts after talking to all concerned persons, including the girl students, who were forced to remove their innerwear before taking the NEET exam on Sunday.

    One of the candidates’ fathers lodged a police complaint, following which five women, who were involved in the frisking and forcing girls to remove their innerwear, were arrested Tuesday.

    The committee will also verify the security/frisking protocols of NTA, as detailed in its information bulletin on ‘barred items and dress code’ and NTA NEET(UG)-2022 guidelines for city coordinators, centre superintendents, observers and invigilators were followed.

    ALSO READ | Kerala horror: Female students asked to remove innerwear at NEET exam centre

    NTA said that the committee would give necessary recommendations.

    “The Committee will submit its report in 4 weeks,” officials said.

    NTA, which had earlier denied that the incident had happened and dismissed the allegation as fictitious, announced a fact-finding committee following directions from Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who received many representatives from Kerala on Tuesday. 

    The National Commission for Women (NCW), which described the incident as “shameful and outrageous” to the modesty of the young girls, asked the NTA  to conduct an “independent inquiry into the allegations levelled by the girl students and to take appropriate action by law against the responsible.”

    NEW DELHI: The three-member fact-finding team, which will probe Kerala ‘innerwear’ incident, will submit its report in four weeks, the National Testing Agency (NTA) officials said.

    The three committee members are Dr Sadhana Parashar, senior director, NTA; Shylaja O R, Principal, Saraswathi Vidyalaya Arappura Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and Suchitra Shyjinth, Pragati Academy, Perumbavoor Ernakulam.

    According to NTA, the committee members will visit the spot and verify the facts after talking to all concerned persons, including the girl students, who were forced to remove their innerwear before taking the NEET exam on Sunday.

    One of the candidates’ fathers lodged a police complaint, following which five women, who were involved in the frisking and forcing girls to remove their innerwear, were arrested Tuesday.

    The committee will also verify the security/frisking protocols of NTA, as detailed in its information bulletin on ‘barred items and dress code’ and NTA NEET(UG)-2022 guidelines for city coordinators, centre superintendents, observers and invigilators were followed.

    ALSO READ | Kerala horror: Female students asked to remove innerwear at NEET exam centre

    NTA said that the committee would give necessary recommendations.

    “The Committee will submit its report in 4 weeks,” officials said.

    NTA, which had earlier denied that the incident had happened and dismissed the allegation as fictitious, announced a fact-finding committee following directions from Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who received many representatives from Kerala on Tuesday. 

    The National Commission for Women (NCW), which described the incident as “shameful and outrageous” to the modesty of the young girls, asked the NTA  to conduct an “independent inquiry into the allegations levelled by the girl students and to take appropriate action by law against the responsible.”

  • COVID experience as intern made me strong and resilient: NEET-PG topper Dr Batra

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: One should not lose hope even if results are not to their expectation as it is the effort that is important, says Dr Shagun Batra, a Delhiite who has topped the NEET-PG 2022.

    The NEET-PG 2022 results were declared on Wednesday.

    Batra, an alumni of the DPS RK Puram, has been a topper in her school all throughout, as well as during the MBBS exams.

    Sharing the recipe for her success in the NEET-PG exam, Batra said that she started her preparations during the third year of the MBBS, juggling coaching and college while finding time to study on her own.

    She said it was for the first time that she had appeared for a postgraduate competitive exam.

    “I didn’t know I would become the NEET topper. I just prepared for it and gave my best shot without expecting much,” Dr Batra said.

    The only doctor in her family, she said she chose to become a medical practitioner to be able to make a difference in someone’s life.

    Her experience as a frontline worker during the Covid crisis made her realise the crucial importance of doctors in driving away pain and illness.

    Due to COVID-19, Dr Batra said the final year medical students missed out on hands-on training and hardly interacted with patients.

    She said the second wave of Covid was at its peak when she began her internship and found herself along with her fellow batchmates in the midst of a raging crisis posed by the pandemic.

    “My first day on duty was in Covid ICU. We had 15 days of duty and 15 days of quarantine. I stayed in the college hostel that time and could meet my parents only once in a month or two, even though my house was just an hour away from the hostel.

    “Amid panic and a frightening environment most of us didn’t know how to deal with the situation while keeping ourselves safe,” the topper recalled.

    However, she said it was a great learning period which had made her “strong and resilient”.

    After topping the class 12 exam at Delhi Public School, RK Puram here, she took admission at Maulana Azad Medical College in 2016 and had taken the top rank in her MBBS batch.

    Her father is an IT professional and mother, a homemaker.

    The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) Post Graduate-2022 was held on May 21 at 849 centres.

    A total of 1,82,318 candidates had taken the exam.

  • NEET-PG 2022 results announced in record 10 days

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) Post Graduate-2022 results were announced on Wednesday in a record ten days.

    The examination, mired in controversy as thousands of junior doctors had sought postponement because of the unfinished counselling process of the previous year, was conducted on May 21. The result is now available on natboard.edu.in and nbe.edu.in.

    Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted, “NEET-PG result is out! I congratulate all the students who have qualified for NEET-PG with flying colours.”

    He lauded the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) for announcing the results in a record ten days. “I appreciate @NBEMS_INDIA for their commendable job of declaring the results in record ten days, much ahead of schedule,” he said.

    NEET PG 2022 cut-offs have also been released. The merit list for the same would be released separately by NBE, officials said. A total of 1,82,318 candidates had taken the exam in 849 centres.

    NEET-PG result is out!I congratulate all the students who have qualified for NEET-PG with flying colours.I appreciate @NBEMS_INDIA for their commendable job of declaring the results in record 10 days, much ahead of the schedule.Check your result at https://t.co/Fbmm0s9vCP
    — Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) June 1, 2022
    The exams were held in the backdrop of an aggressive social media campaign launched by the junior students. Many student associations and federations had appealed to the union health minister and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone them as they said that they were not ready to take the exams due to the delayed counselling process of 2021. 

    Junior doctors also approached the Supreme Court, which dismissed the plea. In a notice, NBEMS said the merit position for All India 50 per cent quota seats would be declared separately. Now, the selected candidates would have to register for counselling.  Officials said the counselling schedule for NEET-PG 2022 examination would be released by the Medical Counselling Committee soon. 

    Officials said the union health ministry is expected to announce the schedule soon. It intends to cover up the lost time and the gap caused in postgraduate medical education due to the two years of the pandemic.

    India has about 38,000 post-graduate seats for about 78,000 MBBS graduates. There are 50 per cent All India quota seats, and the remaining 50 per cent are the state quota seats, which offer 19,000 MD/MS seats.