On 9th August, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking the postponement of the NEET PG examination scheduled on 11th August. The bench consisted of Chief justice of India DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. They stated that it cannot risk the futures of 200,000 students for the sake of just five individuals.
The exam had already been rescheduled once
The examination was initially scheduled for 23rd June. However, to address issues seen in other competitive exams, the schedule was adjusted as a precautionary step.
Arguments presented by petitioners
The petitioners contended that the rescheduled date of August 11 created substantial difficulties, particularly because test cities were allocated only on July 31.
The petitioners argued that the short notice may leave many candidates scrambling to arrange travel, with the high cost of last-minute flights and the lack of available train tickets making the situation even more difficult.
They further expressed worries about the exam being split into two sessions, fearing potential inequity if one group faced more challenging questions than the other. To prevent any doubts about the fairness of the process, they requested that the normalisation formula, designed to equalise the difficulty across different sets of questions, be made public beforehand.
Anas Tanwir, the Advocate on Record (AOR) representing the petitioners, contended that the absence of transparency, combined with the difficulties of accessing distant test centres, could put numerous students at a disadvantage. Vishal Soren, one of the petitioners, proposed that holding the exam in a single session would create an equal testing environment for all candidates.
The exam will take place across two separate sessions
The NEET PG exam, organised by NBEMS (National Board of Education in Medical Sciences), is scheduled for August 11, and will be held in two sessions nationwide for 2,28,542 candidates.
The authorities stated that this decision was taken as a precaution to increase monitoring and ensure heightened vigilance during the exam.
The exam will take place in 185 cities nationwide, with 500 testing centres designated for the event.
Format of the paper
The exam will be held in a single day and session using a computer-based format. The question paper will feature 200 multiple-choice questions, with each question providing four answer options in English. Candidates must choose the correct, best, or most suitable option from the four provided for each question.
