News Analysis India

Tag: NEET

  • Over 10,000 MBBS aspirants write to National Testing Agency demanding postponement of NEET

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Over 10,000 MBBS aspirants have written to the National Testing Agency (NTA) demanding that the medical entrance exam NEET be postponed as its scheduled date is too close to other competitive exams.

    The crucial exam is scheduled to be held on July 17 this year. In the letter, the MBBS aspirants said the date for this year’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has been announced, even though counselling for last year’s exam hasn’t finished.

    “Many NEET aspirants and droppers from 2021 waited till the mop-up round of NEET 2021 counselling in the hope of getting a medical seat but didn’t get one. The mop up round ended in the first week of April… in many states, state counselling is not finished till now,” it said.

    “This year, many students could not calculate their percentage of getting a seat due to the changed reservation policy in NEET 2021 counselling and suddenly after three days, NTA announced on April 6 that NEET 2022 will be conducted on 17 July 2022,” the letter read.

    It said umpteen droppers and freshers will not get enough time to prepare for NEET. Last year’s exam was initially scheduled for August 1 but was postponed to September 12 due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “Also, CUET is scheduled for 1st and 2nd weeks of July and JEE mains second attempt is scheduled from 21 July 2022. In between NEET on 17 July will be a great burden for students. Pursuing MBBS is a dream of lakhs of students and the emotions of their parents and teachers are connected therewith. But due to this declaration of premature dates, they are starting to give up on their dreams. Please allocate them an adequate amount of time so that they can prepare well for the exam,” the letter stated.

    The Supreme Court had last week dismissed petitions seeking postponement of the 2022 NEET-Post Graduate examinations, saying any change to the May 21 date “will create chaos and uncertainty and deficiency of doctors in hospitals”.

  • Medical aspirants urge PM Narendra Modi for postponing NEET PG 2022 exam

    By PTI

    NOIDA: Over 15,000 National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) 2022 aspirants on Friday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging that the upcoming post graduate examination be postponed, education rights group said.

    The NEET PG 2022 is scheduled for May 21 and the memorandum has come from students across the country, including the Delhi-National Capital Region, through various groups and associations, they said.

    The development came even as a medical students’ association moved the Supreme Court on Thursday for postponement of the examination citing its clash with the ongoing counselling for NEET PG 2021.

    “We 15,000 aspirants writing on behalf of majority of NEET PG aspirants suffering due to the ongoing counselling and upcoming NEET PG 2022 exam scheduled on 21 May,2022. We would like to bring it to your notice regarding the issues faced by the aspirants who are unable to appear for the upcoming medical post-graduation entrance exam NEET PG 2022,” the memorandum stated.

    “The counselling process conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for NEET PG 2021 has been made null and void seven times. As per latest notification from MCC, May 7 is the last date for the admission into PG courses. But, the registration for NEET PG 2022 was closed on March 25, 2022,” it stated.

    The memorandum noted that with the “uncertainty of the counselling process” more than “50,000 aspirants couldn’t even apply for the exam”.

    “The uncertainty related to the counselling process has brought the students in dilemma about proper conduction of counselling and the date when it will be finished,” it added.

    In the memorandum, submitted at the prime minister’s office (PMO), New Delhi, the aspirants also cited confusion due to the suddenness of the notification and stress because of it ahead of the crucial examination as they urged that the examination be postponed for eight to 10 weeks.

    “We request you to give us appointment to a delegation of 5 NEET PG aspirants so that we can put the genuine demands in front of you. As you requested all the final year medicos to serve the nation during COVID-19 crisis, we have done that as desired by you in the larger interest of the nation. Now, we request you to sympathetically consider our demands and serve us justice,” it stated.

    The aspirants were represented through groups like Federation of All India Medical Association, United Doctors Front Association, All India Medical Students’ Association, and NCR Parents’ Association, among others.

    Separately, NCR Parents’ Association president Sukhpal Singh Toor said around 70 people have taken Delhi Police’s permission for a “peaceful protest” at the Jantar Mantar in the national capital on Sunday over the issue.

    “This protest will not cause any obstruction to traffic or the movement of pedestrians. This protest is totally apolitical,” Toor said.

  • Medical students’ association to approach Supreme Court for postponing NEET PG exam

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: A medical students’ association will approach the Supreme Court on May 4 for postponing NEET PG 2022 exam as the counseling process for 2021 is not yet over, even as other medical bodies urged the union health minister to defer the exam till July.

    According to All India Medical Students’ Association national president Dr. Jitendra Singh the association will be filing a petition on May 4 on postponing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-PG) 2022.

    “We request all medical associations to join in this fight for justice for medical students,” he tweeted.

    In a separate letter to the union health ministry, the association said the counseling for NEET PG 2021 is still in progress, but the NEET PG 2022 exam is scheduled for May 3.

    Requesting for a postponement of the exam, the association said that this will help smoothly conduct the counseling and will thus solve the problems faced by the aspirants.

    The NEET PG counseling of 2021 will get over by May 3, which will then be followed by state counseling, which will get over by May end, the aspirants told this newspaper.

    The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) also wrote to the Union Health Minister, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, urging him to postpone the NEET PG 2022 exam from May to July.

    “Justice can be served to these hard-working candidates, who formed the main support system of the country during the Covid-19 crisis and provided their best efforts to ensure the safety of the citizens,” the letter said.

    In an online poll conducted by FAIMA, over 85 percent voted for postponing the exams slated for May 21. One and a half lakh MBBS students take the NEET PG 2022 exam.

    The Resident Doctors’ Association of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital also requested the health minister to look into the matter urgently. “Kindly put an end to this suffering of NEET PG aspirants,” they tweeted.

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

  • SC allows TN to reserve 50% seats for in-service docs in super specialty courses for 2021-22

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Tamil Nadu to enforce 50% reservation for in-service candidates in super specialty courses in NEET-SS admissions for the academic year 2021-2022. The plea by some students had challenged the constitutional validity of the government order dated November 7, 2020 issued by Tamil Nadu for reserving 50% of the seats at the super specialty level in government medical colleges to in-service doctors.

    “We are of the view that no case is made out for continuing the interim protection which was granted for the academic year 2020-2021 vide interim order dated 27th November, 2020 (supra) and thus, we reject the prayer in that regard. Needless to say that the state of Tamil Nadu would be at liberty to continue the counselling for academic year 2021-2022 by taking into consideration the reservation provided by it as per the said G.O,” the court order passed by Justice Nageswara Rao and Justice BR Gavai reads.

    Senior advocate Dushyant Dave appearing on behalf of one of the petitioners had argued that the concerned G.O was unconstitutional and lacked authority. The state of Tamil Nadu was represented by Additional Advocate General Amit Anand Tiwari who had argued that non-service candidates do not stand by their compulsory bond duty. He had submitted that they abandon their duty towards the state once they get admission to super specialty courses, hence making it difficult for the state to sustain medical institutions. The state further argued that such special provisions serve a bigger purpose.

    The plea filed by Advocate on Record Rashmi Nandakumar had said that the petitioner Dr N Karthikeyan and other students had given the examination pursuant to the information bulletin which states that there is no special provision.

    “Various states have been attempting to impose different quotas on super specialty seats in government medical colleges within their jurisdiction. The NEET-SS is a national examination conducted in pursuance of the mandate to coordinate standards of education across the country. The petitioners submit that until the validity of special provisions in super specialty is determined by this Hon’ble Court and a uniform policy is drawn, no reservation can be created for in-service candidates at this level. The petitioners submit that in any case, no such reservation can be created mid-way through the examination process. Since the issue at hand has a national dimension, the petitioners seek to invoke the jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India,” the plea had said.

  • SC notes Centre’s decision to reduce 15 percentile marks for admission to NEET-PG, disposes of plea

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court noted on Monday that a decision has been taken by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that there shall be a reduction across all categories of 15 percentile for admission to the NEET-PG courses and disposed of a plea seeking reduction of cut-off marks.

    A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant said the petition which has been instituted by the doctors stands disposed of as they would be able to secure admissions and their grievances would be addressed.

    It noted, “By a communication of the Union government dated March 12, 2022, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided in consultation with the National Medical Commission that there shall be a reduction across all categories of 15 percentile for admission to the NEET PG courses. Thus, for the general category the cut-off percentile is 35, for the physically handicapped general category 30 and for the reserved SC/ST 25.”

    The bench said that in the event the petitioners still have any subsisting grievance, “we grant them liberty to adopt appropriate proceedings in accordance with law, including by applying for revival of present proceedings. Hence, the petition is disposed of, at the present stage, reserving liberty to the petitioners, as noted above.”

    At the outset, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners who are MBBS doctors, said that the counselling is ending on March 30 and now they have reduced the cut-off marks. He submitted that last year also cut-off marks were reduced but 7000 seats went vacant.

    Bhushan said a representation is pending that there should not be no cut-off marks and court may direct for appropriate consideration of the representation.

    Advocate Gaurav Sharma said that PG seats which normally go vacant are those seats which are mostly related to academic studies.

    The bench then asked Sharma to produce the notification passed with regard to reduction of cut-off marks and passed the order.

  • NEET-PG 2022 to be held on May 21: NBEMS

    The NEET-PG 2022 shall now be conducted on May 21 from 9 am to 12.30 pm, the notice issued by the NBEMS on Friday read.

  • Postpone NEET PG 2022 by 6-8 weeks: Health Ministry tells NBE

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry has asked the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to postpone NEET PG 2022 by six to eight weeks since it clashes with the NEET PG 2021 counselling.

    On January 25, six MBBS graduates had filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking postponement of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) scheduled on March 12 for admissions in postgraduate medical courses, claiming that many MBBS graduates would not be able to take up the examination due to non-completion of the mandatory internship period.

    Dr B Srinivas, Assistant Director General (Medical Education) and Member Secretary of the Medical Counselling Committee, in a communication sent to Dr M Bajpai, executive director of NBE, said that a lot of representations were being received from medical doctors requesting to postpone the NEET-PG 2022 examination as it was clashing with the NEET PG 2021 counselling.

    Also, many of the interns would not be able to participate in the PG counselling 2022 in May-June, Srinivas said.

    “Keeping the above facts in view, the HFM (ministry of health and family welfare) has taken the decision to postpone NEET PG 2022 by 6-8 weeks or suitably. Hence, the decision made by HFM may be complied with,” the communication sent on February 3 stated.

  • Students claim NEET exam not applicable for AYUSH courses, HC issues notice

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI:  A group of students on Monday approached the Delhi High Court claiming that AYUSH courses cannot come under National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) as the examination is restricted to Modern Scientific medicine and does not include traditional medicine courses.

    Seeking the stand of the Centre and National Testing Agency in this regard, a division bench headed by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice on the plea filed by six AYUSH aspirants.

    Further, the court said it will hear the matter on March 30 along with another plea filed by a group of Allopathic doctors who have moved the Court against allowing AYUSH practitioners to perform some surgeries. It also asked Centre’s counsel Monika Arora to furnish details of allopathic doctors’ plea.

    During the course of the hearing, the court also remarked that there is a double standard in the plea. “On a lighter side, you on one hand are saying you are competitive. But when asked to appear in NEET, you are saying we are not,” the court said while listing both the matters for the next hearing.

    In the AYUSH aspirants’ petition, it was contended that their courses operate differently and they are fundamentally different from Medical Institutions that grant degrees, diplomas, or licenses in Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, or Homoeopathy medicines.

    They also said that the common entrance test is not structured to take into account the eligibility criteria for admission to AYUSH courses.

    Claiming that NEET for AYUSH courses is in violation of Article 14 which provides equality before the law or equal protection of the laws, the aspirants said they are not against the entrance test system but against NEET for taking admission to AYUSH courses–Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Sowa Rigpa.

  • Stalin holds all-party meet on state’s exemption from NEET

    By ANI

    CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday chaired an all-party meeting at the Secretariat to discuss the future course of action on the State’s demand for exemption from the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET).

    Meanwhile, BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan walked out of the all-party meeting and said that they do not support the NEET resolution.

    “We do not support the resolution. Even during the last Assembly session, we’ve not supported the resolution passed to scrap the NEET exams. We are having a political stand of supporting the NEET exam in Tamil Nadu,” said Srinivasan.

    Earlier on January 6, the Chief Minister had said, “The State Assembly passed a resolution and bill on February 19 last year against NEET and sent to the Governor. The Governor is yet to send it to the President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent.”

    On February 28, 2021, the DMK MPs gave a memorandum against the NEET exam to the President, the CM said.

    He further said that all Party delegations had sought an appointment from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but it was denied by the minister.

    Speaking on the floor of the Assembly, CM Stalin said, “The entrance examination coaching will only benefit the rich students. NEET exams have made school education costlier. We cannot remain a mute spectator.”

  • Mandaviya urges protesting resident docs to call off strike over NEET PG counselling delay

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday held a meeting with a delegation of protesting resident doctors and urged them to call off their strike over delay in NEET PG counselling in the larger interest of the public.

    Following the detailed meeting with the delegation of the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), he said all requisite steps are being taken by the government and a suitable reply with respect to the EWS report will be submitted to Supreme Court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6.

    “Our resident doctors have been protesting for the last few days over the delay in NEET PG counselling. I held a meeting with a delegation of the protesting doctors at Nirman Bhawan to resolve the issue,” the minister said.

    “We are not able to do the counselling because the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court. The government of India will submit a reply to the apex court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. We request the court to expedite the issue so that the counselling can be started at the earliest,” he noted.

    Mandaviya also expressed gratitude to the resident doctors and health care workers over the exemplary work done by them during the Covid crisis.

    Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, even as police personnel were deployed to ensure maintenance of law and order.

    The protest, a day earlier had taken a dramatic turn, as medics and police personnel had faced off in streets, with both sides claiming several persons suffered injury in the ensuing melee.