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Due to the selection of exam centers that are far from their homes, many applicants to the National Eligibility Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2024 have been frustrated and angry. There is a public desire for the centre to be moved to the first chosen city mentioned on the application forms, as several candidates have reported that some centers are up to 1,000 km away.
Social media users have taken a strong interest in the topic, and a number of parliamentarians, like Kerala Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, supported it.
On Wednesday night, candidates received information about the exam city allotment from the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS). Several candidates claimed to have received the information via SMS, despite the board's earlier announcement that it would be distributed via email. Only the names of the cities having the exam centers have been provided by the NBEMS; the precise addresses must be listed on the admit cards. August 11 is set up for NEET PG 2024 in two shifts.
Candidates have voiced their complaints on the social networking site X, (formerly Twitter). Anandita, an X user and NEET PG candidate, posted, "Last time got a centre 10 kms away and now they have allotted a centre 1000 km away which wasn’t even in my 4 options in UP, which is such a remote area, even though I filled it on the first day. What kind of arrangement is this? Can someone please take any action?"
Another applicant, Sajit Khan, begged for justice, bringing up the circumstances in Thrissur, Kerala, where candidates have to travel long distances.
Public figures are aware of the allocation issue. The demands of the students have received active backing from Kerala Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. In a tweet, Tharoor stated, "My letter to Health Minister J.P. Nadda on a critical issue affecting NEET PG aspirants from Kerala. The meeting referred to has taken place this afternoon, and the Minister has promised sympathetic action to resolve the problem."
Aspirants for NEET PG are now receiving encouragement from members of the medical fraternity. The President of the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), and the Union Health Minister Shri J P Nadda were among the officials to whom UDFA recently wrote to voice their complaints.
The association further mentioned in the letter that "...candidates were recently directed to choose their preferred test cities during an online window from July 19, 2024, to July 22, 2024, with allotted city centers communicated on July 31, 2024. However, several candidates have now been assigned exam centers far from their place of residence or state, drastically different from their chosen preferences. This has caused significant logistical challenges, particularly with the exam date just 10 days away."
In order to ensure that all candidates—especially Divyangjan—be allotted centers that are reasonably close to their homes, the association requested the authorities to review and rectify the exam centre allotments procedure as soon as possible. In order to guarantee future adherence to open, student-centered examination, the association has sought systems of accountability from NBEMS.
FAIMA also sent a letter to the Union Health Minister pointing out that many candidates nationwide received centre allocations that were distant from their hometowns and native states, and frequently in places that were completely unrelated to the four top selections they had submitted during the allocation procedure.
The group made the point that exam locations that are far away would result in higher accommodation and transport charges. It also emphasized how the rainy season has led to significant transportation interruptions, making it difficult for students to make bookings for trains and flights.
The association has requested that the Minister reallocate test locations so that they are reasonably close to the home states of the students in order to reduce excessive travel expenses and logistical concerns. It also pleaded with the authorities to make sure that students receive timely and accurate information on test locations, scheduling, normalization processes, results announcements, and counseling dates. Furthermore, in order to guarantee that the students are not excessively burdened by long-distance travel, it required that the authorities rectify irregularities in centre allotments.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)
