New Delhi:

Dismissing a petition filed by a few students, the Supreme Court has refused to postpone the NEET-PG exam scheduled for Sunday and said it could not put the careers of nearly 2 lakh candidates at risk. 

The entrance exam for post-graduate medical courses, which was initially supposed to be held on June 23, had already been postponed once as a precaution amid the row over the irregularities in NEET-UG. 

Seeking that the NEET-PG exam be postponed again, the petitioners said many candidates appearing for the test have been allotted exam centres in cities where it was difficult for them to reach. They said that the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which conducts the exam, had informed them about the city where they would have to appear for the exam on July 31. 

Information about the exam centre, on the other hand, was given only on Thursday when the test was scheduled for Sunday, the students contended, adding that the exam was scheduled to be held in two sessions and the formula for normalisation of scores had not been revealed yet. 

Hearing the petition on Friday, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices Manoj Misra and JB Pardiwala said it could not order the postponement of the exam just two days before it was supposed to be held. 

“How can we postpone such an exam? Nowadays people just come asking to postpone the exam. It’s not a perfect world. We are not academic experts,” the court said. 

Nothing that 2 lakh students were expected to appear for the exam, the bench said it was not inclined to ask for it to be rescheduled just because a few candidates wanted. 

“There are 2 lakh students and 4 lakh parents who will be affected. We cannot put the careers of so many candidates at risk just because of these petitioners,” the bench remarked. 

Previous Postponement

On the night of June 22, a day before NEET-PG was originally supposed to be held, the Centre had announced that the exam would be postponed. The decision was taken amid the row over the NEET-UG paper leaks and was announced shortly after the Centre had said that it was replacing the chief of the National Testing Agency, which conducts the medical exam for undergraduate courses. 

Stating that it wanted to “undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of processes of NEET-PG”, the government said the exam had been postponed as a precautionary measure. 

Caught off guard, many candidates had been inconvenienced at the time as they had to travel to different cities to appear for the exam. Some had said they had also travelled with their families because they could not leave their little children behind. 

Stepping up its attack on the Centre after it cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-PG) for postgraduate medical courses, the Congress has said the Narendra Modi government must be held accountable for students to get justice.

NEET-PG is an examination doctors must clear to pursue postgraduate programmes. It is conducted by National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences. This exam was initially scheduled for March 3. Then it was announced that it would be held on July 7. The date was revised again to June 23 i.e. today. But hours ahead of the examination, the Centre announced that it would be postponed.

In a statement at 10 pm yesterday, the government said, “Taking into consideration, the recent incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations, Ministry of Health has decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of processes of NEET-PG Entrance Examination, conducted by National Board of Examination for medical students. It has accordingly been decided, as a precautionary measure to postpone the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, scheduled to be held tomorrow i.e. 23rd June, 2024. Fresh date of this examination will be notified at the earliest.”

The statement added that the Health Ministry sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to the students and that the decision has been taken in their best interests.

This was the third big examination cancelled in a week. Earlier, the National Testing Agency cancelled the UGC-NET a day before the exam, citing inputs that the integrity of the exam may have been compromised. The CSIR-UGC NET was also postponed. This comes amid nationwide protests against irregularities in the NEET UG exam, due to which 24 lakh students are staring at uncertainty.

In the NEET Scam, the buck stops at the doorstep of the top echelons of the Modi Govt.

Shuffling the bureaucrats is no solution to the endemic problem in the Education system rotted by the BJP.

NTA was projected to be an autonomous body, but in reality was made to serve the…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 22, 2024

Hitting out at the Centre over the NEET row, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the “buck stops at the doorstep of the top echelons of the Modi Govt”. “Shuffling the bureaucrats is no solution to the endemic problem in the Education system rotted by the BJP. NTA was projected to be an autonomous body, but in reality was made to serve the devious interests of the BJP/RSS. For students to get Justice, Modi Govt must be held accountable,” he said.

“Now, NEET-PG Exam has been postponed. 4 examinations have been either cancelled/postponed in the past 10 days. Paper Leaks, Corruption, Irregularities and Education Mafia has infiltrated our Education system. This belated whitewashing exercise is of NO consequence as countless youth continue to suffer!” he added.

The Centre has handed over to the CBI the investigation into the NEET UG irregularities. “Certain cases of alleged irregularities/cheating/impersonation/malpractices have been reported,” the Centre has said in a statement. Among other steps, the National Testing Agency’s Director General Subodh Singh has been sacked and a seven-member panel set up for exam reforms.

अब NEET PG भी स्थगित!

यह नरेंद्र मोदी के राज में बर्बाद हो चुकी शिक्षा व्यवस्था का एक और दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण उदाहरण है।

भाजपा राज में छात्र अपना करियर बनाने के लिए ‘पढ़ाई’ नहीं, अपना भविष्य बचाने के लिए सरकार से ‘लड़ाई’ लड़ने को मजबूर है।

अब यह स्पष्ट है – हर बार चुप-चाप तमाशा…

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 22, 2024

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the education system of the country has been destroyed under the Narendra Modi government. The cancellation of NEET PG, he said, is another example. “In the BJP’s rule, students have to fight the government instead of focusing on their studies,” he said, adding that the government is helpless before paper leak racket and education mafia. “Narendra Modi’s incompetent government is the biggest danger for the future of students. We have to save the country’s future,” he said.

The Sharad-Pawar-led faction of NCP said the government was playing with the lives of aspirants. “Due to their inability to do their job, the government is playing with the lives and future of children,” said NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto.