NEET PG 2022: Union Health Ministry postpones March 12 exam by 6-8 weeks

NEET PG Postponed: Union Health Ministry on February 4 has postponed the NEET PG exam 2022. Health Ministry stated that the exam which was earlier scheduled to be conducted on March 12 has been extended by 6-8 weeks. New dates have not been announced yet but are likely to be out soon. 

Madurai MP Su Venkatesan on January 24, demanded postponement of NEET PG 2022 as the date of exam was clashing with the dates for NEET PG Counselling 2021. In a letter to Union minister of health and family welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, the MP noted that the Online Stray Vacancy Round for AIQ/central and deemed/ PG DNB seats counselling has been slated from March 11 to March 16, 2022. 

Plea filed in Supreme Court

A plea was filed by six MBBS students seeking postponement of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET PG) exam 2022. The petitioners requested on January 25 that the medical exam which was then scheduled to be conducted on March 12 should be postponed. They sought deferment of NEET PG 2022 that has been listed for hearing before the bench of justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant. The plea was filed on January 25 and was earlier scheduled to be heard on February 7.

The plea filed in the Supreme Court challenged the condition provided in the information bulletin. It reads that the deadline to complete the internship is May 31, 2022. The delay in internships took place as the final year MBBS students were appointed for COVID duty to help in tackling the COVID-19 situation in India. 

This in result halted their internships, making the graduates ineligible to appear for NEET PG 2022. The petitioners along with many more candidates have claimed that while they were in the midst of COVID duty, their internships were postponed and none of them were told that participating in front-line duties could result in them becoming ineligible to appear for their post-graduate exam. Along with this, All India JEE-NEET Students Association, AIJNSA also submitted a representation to PMO asking for a postponement of the exam. 

"The petitioners (with 1500 candidates) have mentioned that they were in COVID duties in the year 2021 and therefore their internship was postponed. They have submitted that they are victims of circumstances and that they were not informed at any time that serving in COVID duties would tantamount to a situation where they will not be eligible to appear for the NEET-PG," the lawyer said, as per PTI.