In a hearing on National Eligibility Entrance Test Post Graduation (NEET PG) 2021, Delhi High Court asked the National Board of Examination to take a look into the extension of the application date for NEET PG 2021.
NEET PG 2021
The National Eligibility Cumulative Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) is a qualifying and ranking test in India for students wanting to study postgraduate Doctor of Medicine (MD), Master of Surgery (MS), and diploma programmes in government or private medical schools. The All India Post Graduate Medical Entrance Examination was superseded by this test (AIPGMEE).
NEET PG 2021 Date schedule
Earlier the NEET PG 2021 exam was to be held on 18th April 2021 which was later rescheduled to 11th September 2021, via proper notice issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Why NEET PG was postponed
The NEET PG exam was to be held earlier in the month of April. During the second wave of Covid, a substantial number of doctors opposed the NBE’s decision to conduct an exam.
On July 13 2021, the updated date was announced. The Prime Minister’s Office stated that the exam will not be held until at least the end of August, and that when new dates are published, applicants will have at least one month to study.
Plea for the extension of application date
Siddharth Mittal, a MBBS student who cleared all his semesters gracefully states that, the duration of the internship as per the cut-off was till 30th July 2021, because of non-completion of the internship he was unable to fill in the form. Including him there were many other students too who faced the same problem.
Students pleaded in the court to extend the application date so that the remaining students can fill the form and apply for post graduation. The Petitioner submitted many submissions to the respondent authorities, claiming that he and other similarly situated students who became eligible afterwards should be permitted to submit an online application form on the portal and that the portal should be reopened.
More to the Petition
SIDDHARTH MITTAL v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR.
The points included in the petition filed by Siddharth Mittal are
- Despite the fact that the Participants themselves extended the date of examination, the Petitioner’s representations for extending the date of application for registration for appearance in NEET-PG 2021 were not accepted by the Respondents, despite the fact that the Respondents themselves extended the date of examination on the same grounds.
- As a result, a writ of mandamus was issued, requiring the Respondents to provide a fresh deadline for registering for the NEET-PG 2021 test for applicants like the Petitioner who would finish their internship by September 30, 2021.
Court says
Cut-off date for the internship’s deadline was June 30, 2021, according to the document. However, because NEET PG 2021 has been postponed for so long, students who finished their internships after June 30 should be permitted to apply and sit for NEET PG 2021.
Following this, the Delhi High Court has ordered the Centre and the NBE to look into the students’ concerns and determine if the internship deadline can be extended or not. The case will be heard again on August 12, 2021. Students are hoping for some sort of respite.
Court also ordered the Defendants to pay the Petitioner’s expenses in this case.
New Admission Quota
The central government stated earlier this week that under the all-India quota (AIQ) seats for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dentistry programmes, 27 percent of seats will be reserved for OBC students and 10% for EWS students.
Students who earlier applied for NEET considering the earlier quota are worried about their seats. They also pleaded to reopen the portal to make the required changes accordingly and those who were not able to fill it earlier might fill it now. Several students have appealed to the NEET-PG test administrators, requesting that the registration window be reopened for the benefit of students.
Conclusion
As of now the scheduled date for NEET PG 2021 is 11th September 2021, until any further changes. There are few factors like new quota release, the internship date and no further delay in the exam; to be kept in consideration. The petition file to reopen the application is still under a spotlight, more will be known after the next hearing on 12th August 2021.