NEET PG 2021: IMA president calls decision to postpone ‘retrograde’

NEW DELHI: The Indian Medical Association had called the central government’s decision to postpone the entrance exam for postgraduate medicine, NEET PG 2021, by four months “retrograde” and “inhumane”.

The prime minister’s office approved the postponement to make MBBS graduates, who would be writing the NEET PG, available to battle COVID-19. The doctor’s professional body had been against the step and had said as much after NEET PG 2021 was first postponed.

On Monday evening, following a high-level meeting, the prime minister’s office issued a statement saying that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) PG exam should be postponed by at least four months.

The NEET PG exam was scheduled for April 18, which was postponed by the National Medical Commission (NMC) just a few days before the exam.

Postponing NEET PG 2021

Expressing his displeasure over the decision to postpone NEET PG, IMA’s national president, J.A. Jayala wrote on Twitter: “Government had taken this retrograde decision to postpone the NEET PG exams. The exam to be conducted in January is postponed for 8 months and we are missing a year for the postgraduate to join and serve. Government is willing to conduct panchayat elections but not PG admission.”

#NITIAayog #IMAIndiaOrg #PMOIndia
IMA oppose the inhuman attitude to postpone for 8 months NEET PG exams &willfully delaying entry of these Doctors as PG or Junior residence to work as Covid warriors . Recruiting to work in Covid ward ,exams can be conducted in Covid era too.

— Prof.Dr.J.A.Jayalal (@jayalal10) May 3, 2021

Jayala also wrote that the IMA opposes the “inhuman” decision to delay the entry of these doctors as PG or junior residents to work as COVID warriors. “Recruiting to work in COVID ward, exams can be conducted in COVID era too,” Jayala wrote. Before the exam was postponed for the first time, some sections of doctors on COVID-duty were denied leave to go write the exam. Those orders were later revoked.

Close to 1.75 lakh candidates registered for the NEET-PG 2021 examination. Some of the NEET PG candidates have also started a petition to hold the exam by June, one of the candidates, Arunima Singh wrote on social media site: “Kindly conduct the NEET PG 2021 exam by June, the manpower will automatically increase to work in the field. Delaying the exam will not increase any manpower as we’re already in mental stress, trauma preparing for over a year for NEET PG 2021 now.”

Earlier in April, IMA urged the central government to speed up the process of conducting medical entrance exams NEET PG 2021 and also the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) 2021 to increase the medical manpower to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

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