The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has reduced the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) exam fees have been reduced for all candidates by Rs 750. Candidates belonging to the General and OBC categories will have to pay Rs 3,500 and candidates belonging to SC, ST and PWD will have to pay Rs 2,500 The decision to reduce the NEET PG application fee has been made to benefit the lakhs of candidates appearing for the examinations, a statement issued by NBEMS official said. The revised fee will be made effective from January 1, 2024. The statement also said that the fee is now less than the one paid by candidates in 2013. In 2013, the NEET PG application fee for the General and OBC categories was Rs 3,750, which was raised to Rs 4,250 in 2021. This has been reduced to Rs 3,500 from January 1, 2024. In 2013, the application fee for SC, ST and PWD candidates was Rs 2,750, which was raised to Rs 3,250 in 2021. This has been reduced to Rs 2,500 now. The NEET-PG exams are likely to be soon replaced with the National Exit Test (NExT) that will act as the MBBS finals, a licentiate exam, as well as PG entrance test. Last year, doctors had raised concerns with the application fee that the All India Institute for Medical Sciences had decided to charge for conducting a mock NExT test in preparation. While the cost was lower than NEET-PG application, doctors said many might not be able to shell out the money for a mock test. AIIMS was to charge an application fee of Rs 2,000 for general category candidates and Rs 1,000 for SC, ST and persons with disabilities. The mock test never took place as the implantation of NExT test was delayed. - with inputs from ENS
