NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said on Friday that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG 2023) exam will be held on its scheduled time on March 5. This exam is conducted at the national level for admission to postgraduate medical courses.
In response to a question asked in Parliament, Mandaviya said that no medical student should be left out of the exam, so the cut-off date has been increased for all MBBS students.
The Minister was replying to a question by Congress member Gaurav Gogoi.
“It is important to prevent delays caused due to COVID-19 and hence I have informed the students’ delegation about why the exam will not be rescheduled,” he said, adding that earlier examinations were delayed by seven to eight months and later by four months. If I keep on delaying, such a situation will come…. It is very necessary to fix it and to conduct the entrance test on time”.
“To ensure that no one is left out, the ministry has extended the cut-off date for all those MBBS students who are yet to complete their internship. The government has recently extended the internship cut-off date to August 11, 2023, so that no students across the country are ineligible to appear for the exam. Secondly, students were informed about five months earlier that the NEET PG exam 2023 will be held on March 5,” the health minister said.
A group of students appearing for NEET-PG are demanding cancellation of the entrance exam as there is a delay in completion of their internship.
On Tuesday, some students and doctors staged a sit-in under the banner of the All India Medical Association (FAIMA) at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
The ministry had extended the last date for NEET-PG entrance test from August 30 to August 11 so that MBBS students can complete their mandatory one-year internship.