NEET PG 2024 date by next week, says NBE President Abhijat Sheth

Days after the Union Health Ministry postponed the National Eligibility and Entrance Test postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2024 examination slated for June 23, President, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences Abhijat Sheth on Tuesday said that the SOPs and protocols will be reviewed as soon as possible and the next date for the examination will be declared by next week.

Sheth's statement came after a review meeting held between officials of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences and the Union Health Ministry, to access the situation and input received by the government before postponing the examination.

The government has postponed the NEET-PG 2024 examinations following rising controversy regarding alleged exam "irregularities" in the NEET-UG exam held on May 5.

"The integrity of this examination was never in doubt as far as NEET PG is concerned. For the last seven years, we have conducted so far successfully... Because of the recent events, what has happened that there were lots of concerns about all these sorts of examinations from the student communities and in response to that, the government has decided to ensure once more to make sure that the sanctity of the examination the safety and security must be maintained. So they have decided to review the SOPs and protocols as soon as possible. We will declare the next due date in one next week...," said Abhijat Sheth while speaking to ANI.

Further, on the advisory issued against social media messages, and fraudsters, warnings, he said, "This was for protection; that's why we published the SOPs before the examination, this is all perception, social media is so vast these days that sometimes it gives the wrong message to the students, and we wanted students should remain on the right path."

Speaking about the meeting between the officials of NEBMS and the Health Ministry he said, "It was mainly related to review of the processes for computer-based examination and the inputs received by the government. Directions have also been given by the government to the examination body and to Tata Consultancy Services, a technical partner of NEBMS.

"We certainly work closely to ensure that even minor shortcomings are been taken care of," Dr Sheth added.

Earlier, the Ministry of Education said it had constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvements in data security protocols, and the functioning of the NTA. The 7-member committee, led by ISRO former chairman Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, will submit its report to the ministry in the next two months. (ANI)