Centre defers medical entrance test by 6-8 weeks

New Delhi: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET PG 2022) which is scheduled to be held on March 12 has been postponed by six to eight weeks.

The Ministry of Health in a communication sent to the National Board of Examinations mentioned that the NEET PG 2022 date was postponed following representations received from doctors regarding request to delay medical entrance test since it is clashing with the counselling date.

“Also, many of the interns would not be able to participate in the PG counselling by the month of May/ June 2022. Keeping the above facts in view, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has taken the decision to postpone NEET PG 2022 by six to eight weeks or suitably,” the letter by Dr. B. Srinivas, Assistant Director General (Medical Education) and Member Secretary of the Medical Counselling Committee stated.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will also hear a plea today (Feb, 4) filed by six MBBS students seeking postponement of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET PG) exam 2022 which is scheduled to be held on March 12. As per the Supreme Court website, the plea seeking deferment of NEET PG 2022 has been listed for hearing before the bench of justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant.

The plea filed in the Top Court sought directions to the NBE for postponement of the test until various requirements, such as completion of mandatory internship period, set forth in the PG Regulations, are met by many aspirants. Several hundred MBBS graduates, whose internship got halted due to Covid duty, would be rendered ineligible from appearing in the test due to lack of mandatory internship duty, the plea said.

The exam is conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) for admission to postgraduate medical courses.