Aspirants lament cancellation of NEET-PG, say they are caught in no man’s land

HYDERABAD: Aspirants across the country were left distraught and anguished after the Union health ministry’s decision to postpone the NEET Post-Graduation (PG) late Saturday evening, as a precaution, amid the ongoing controversy over the UG paper leaks.

Around two lakh aspirants were expected to appear for the exam scheduled for Sunday. Many of them had arrived at the exam sites after long hours of travel.

One such person was Monisha Ravichandran, 27, who traveled from Tirupathur in Tamil Nadu to Hyderabad with her parents and arrived here on Saturday. The trio traveled for almost 15 hours, covering around 700 km, to reach the exam center – ION Digital Zone, Arunodaya Nagar on the Vijayawada Expressway.

Expressing her disappointment, the aspirant, who quit her job as a private practitioner two years ago, told TNIE that she could not sleep through the night after seeing the news of yet another postponement of the exam .

“Initially, the government announced that the exam was postponed from March to July, then brought forward to June. It has been really confusing and mentally exhausting to constantly check the website for updates. My parents and I were very upset by this development. I had been preparing for two years, so I thought I could finally take a break, but this news shattered my dreams,” said Monisha.

The NEET-PG has seen several date changes. It was initially scheduled to take place on March 3 but was postponed to July 8 by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), the body that organizes the test. However, the exam was once again shifted and brought forward to June 23, and it is now postponed again.

Meanwhile, Monisha’s family had to shell out between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 for their return journey, including tickets and accommodation. The aspirant hoped that if the government had made this announcement at least 24 hours before, he could have avoided this physically and psychologically difficult journey.

The announcement was made around 10 p.m. Saturday, less than 12 hours before students were supposed to take the exam at 9 a.m. Sunday. “Since the government knew about the NEET-UG paper leak, it should have handled it with a better plan. By acting irresponsibly, they are making candidates suffer,” she lamented, adding that students will now be in constant fear due to uncertainty over the exam date.