The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) will release the admit card of NEET PG on August 8. The exam is scheduled to be held on Sunday (August 11). After announcing the NEET PG cities on July 31, the NBEMS released another set of revised city slips on August 4. However, some students are still complaining that the city centres allotted to them are not at a feasible location and require a lot of travel time.
“After students raised their displeasure with exam city allotment, we decided to add more exam centres, and thus some students may have received revised city slips. This time, we have chucked out private exam centres to ensure safety, and as a result of this, some students may have to travel a bit far for their exam centres. Not every student can have a venue very close by, because even if we allow them a centre in the same state, students may have to travel 100-150 km. We have tried our best to shorten their distance,” NBE Chief Abhijat Sheth told indianexpress.com.
With the admit card expected to be out in a day or two, the NEET PG applicants demand that the exam centre cities be re-revised. While many have been allotted the exam cities according to their communication address, a few others are allotted one of the city choices marked by them during the application process.
An aspirant — who had filled Sikar, Jaipur, Delhi and Gwalior in this order — was first allotted Gwalior on July 31. However, on Sunday, the NBE revised the city centre and sent a mail to him saying that his NEET PG will be held in Jaipur. By then, the aspirant had already booked his tickets for Gwalior.
“This exam centre fuss is creating mental pressure on me. For NEET PG which was postponed a day before the exam, I was at Agra ready to appear for the exam the next day. It becomes difficult for me to get work off. The money involved in booking tickets and staying for a night also becomes a burden,” said the aspirant who works at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, New Delhi.
Another aspirant, Ajith Kumar who did not make any preferred choice was allotted a city in Andhra Pradesh first and then later, it was changed to Kerala. His correspondence address is in Kerala.
“I now live in Delhi. I did not put any choice as I waited for NBE to allot any centre. The centre relocation problem a few days before the exam is mentally tiring. It is difficult to travel for two days for the exam,” he added.
The applicants in social media are also arguing the point of conducting NEET PG 2024 in two shifts. Medical association boards including FAIMA (Federation of All India Medical Association) and members of Parliament have written to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Education Ministry for intervention and considering holding the exam on a single shift in nearby test centres.
A senior resident at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS New Delhi) urged JP Nadda, the newly elected Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare to re-evaluate the NEET PG exam center allocations and assign centers within reasonable distances from students’ home states and provide clear, timely information.”
Meanwhile, talking about the flood-hit areas including Assam, NBE chief Sheth added that NBEMS has a mitigation plan ready and it will implemented if the situation remains the same near the exam.