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Journalism of Courage
The postponement of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG) barely 10 hours before it was to take place has drawn bitter reactions from a host of candidates, parents and the medical community in general.
“The NEET-PG exam has been rescheduled for the fourth time this year,” said Dr Prajwal Oswal, who has graduated from Pune’s Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Medical College and is among the scores of candidates preparing for the entrance test for postgraduate medical admission. “I am seriously hurt by the lack of seriousness of the government that is playing with the lives of lakhs of doctors.”
Dr Shreyash Borkar, who did his MBBS from Pune’s BJ Government Medical College and travelled from Amravati to Nagpur for the examination, said he is unable to focus. “I feel drowned right now and don’t want to go through this once again. This is the worst decision ever,” Dr Borkar said.
Dr Abhijit Helge, president of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, said the postponement of the June 23 exam the night before has caused tremendous mental agony and confusion among the candidates. “So many students had reached the exam centres from far away places,” he said.
Some doctors who did not want to be quoted said the authorities had enough time after the NEET-UG fiasco to take corrective steps. “We had booked a week’s trip to Bali. These are non-refundable bookings. Everything is on hold now due to tremendous losses,” one of the candidates said.
Sudha Shenoy, who leads SCICON, a team of education counsellors, told The Indian Express that most candidates are in a state of shock. “Initially it was whether to believe this move of postponement or not, as there was nothing official. It is really disgusting for students to know about the postponement at such short notice,” Shenoy said, adding that there were candidates who had already reached hostels near their far-off exam centres.
“I know of a girl from Dubai who has landed in Mumbai to take the NEET-PG exam and got to know it is postponed,” Shenoy said.
In the medical fraternity too, several doctors are unhappy. Dr Suresh Jain, a consulting gastroenterologist, said the government must have postponed the exam after realising something fishy. “It (postponement) should have been done well before the examination, with valid reasons. This is disturbing the students and the entire family who may have planned to go on a vacation,” Dr Jain added.
In some social media groups, parents are advised to stay close to their wards. “Go with their flow. They will start studying when they feel like. Give the aspirants a day or two to get back to normal” is among the advice being circulated in some groups of parents and doctors.
