Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has written to Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, highlighting the difficulties faced by NEET-PG aspirants in the upcoming 2024 examination. In his letter, Tharoor pointed out several issues, including the inconvenient locations of examination centres, which require some candidates to travel thousands of kilometres, and the decision to conduct the exam in two shifts with separate papers.
Tharoor argued that a national exam should ideally be administered in a single shift across all locations to maintain uniformity and fairness. He also criticized the reduction in the number of cities where the tests are to be conducted, further exacerbating the challenges faced by the aspirants.
The NEET-PG 2024 exam, conducted by the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), is scheduled to be held on a pan-India basis for 2,28,542 candidates at 416 examination centres in 170 cities. The exam will be conducted in two shifts, and the scores of the candidates will be normalised.
NBEMS President Dr Abhijat Sheth defended the exam’s current arrangements, stating that private entrepreneur institutes have been avoided for NEET-PG 2024 centres for better monitoring and to eliminate any possibility of malpractice. He also mentioned that the students have been allocated exam centres in the same state as per their given address, to the best extent possible.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea on Friday seeking the postponement of the NEET-PG 2024 examination, citing the inconvenient allocation of cities for candidates and the need for score normalisation.