Centre postpones NEET-PG exam, fresh date to be announced soon

New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare postponed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) Examination on Saturday, which was scheduled to be held on Sunday, and said that a fresh date will be announced at the earliest.

The NEET-PG exams were scheduled to be held on June 23.

"Taking into consideration, the recent incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations, the Ministry of Health has decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of the processes of the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, conducted by the National Board of Examination for medical students," the ministry statement read.

"It has accordingly been decided, as a precautionary measure, to postpone the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, scheduled to be held on 23rd June, 2024. The fresh date of this examination will be notified at the earliest," the ministry added.

"The Ministry of Health sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to the students. This decision has been taken in the best interests of the students and to maintain the sanctity of the examination process," the health ministry said.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) was fully prepared to conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Post-Graduate (PG) 2024.

Speaking exclusively to ANI, Dr Rakesh Sharma, OSD to President and Member, Governing Body, NBEMS said, "All eyes of the nation are on NBEMS for the conduct of NEET PG 2024 and we will not let down the hope of the nation. We will conduct the test through a computer-based test (CBT) mode throughout the country."

On Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) for successfully delivering and maintaining transparency, he said, "NBEMS has robust SOPs for conducting exams because of which NBEMS has been successfully delivering the exams year after year. These SOPs are stringently followed. NBEMS has worked very hard on maintaining the secrecy of the question paper and there is no chance that there will be any leakage of the question paper."

He further said that NBEMS is supported by medical colleges, faculty, MoHFW, Flying Squads, Deans and Principals, Vice-chancellor and other agencies, "NBEMS has support from various medical colleges, faculty, MoHFW and other agencies. NBEMS has already briefed the chief secretaries and DGP of all states for safe and secure conduct of the exam."

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the NEET-UG exams, is facing criticism over alleged irregularities in the exams. This resulted in several protests across the country, with protestors and political parties demanding to disband the NTA.

An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which added to the concerns.

The Ministry of Education said it has constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvements in data security protocols and the functioning of the NTA.

The 7-member committee, led by ISRO former chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan, will submit its report to the ministry in the next two months.

"In order to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts to make recommendations on Reform in mechanism of examination process improvement in data security protocols and the structure and functioning of National Testing Agency," the ministry said.