Don’t trust people who promise postponement: IMA Fmr Prez Advises NEET PG Students, wishes luck for exam

The Indian Medical Association requested the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to reschedule the NEET-PG examination which is scheduled to be held on May 21 2022.

In an exclusive sit down with Medically Speaking, the former president of IMA, Dr JA Jayalal said, “The IMA is concerned about the medical education system in our country. There is a lot of confusion and chaos within the selection criteria. In 2021, the NEET PG that was to be held in March was unnecessarily postponed to September by the then Health Minister and the counselling was dragged till 6-7 months. This shows that the selection process is being kept in a dilemma or in a sleep mode.”

“The National Medical Commission must give an answer to the catastrophic condition. Now the situation is such that till May 15, the students have been subjected to counselling where they are still confused as to whether they will get a seat or not. It must be remembered that medicine has nearly 21 subjects on which students need to be rigorously trained. Only a short period of time is available to fully prepare for the upcoming PG exam. This is why we found that the majority of the students are keen to get a little more breathing time to adequately prepare. We henceforth took steps to ensure the same. We wrote to the government in the beginning, met the concerned person and requested him, and did all that we could to ensure a good academic milieu in this country,” he added.

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea seeking to postpone National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG 2022) examination. A bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said that the request to postpone NEET PG 2022 cannot be entertained as it would affect patient care and doctors’ career. The Court also said the need for patient care is paramount.

Speaking on the matter, Jayalal said, “India is a country with good administrative infrastructure. A commission has been constituted to look into the admission process, but unfortunately, we are in a shameful situation where we need to get a court involved to decide whether to conduct an examination or not. The court said that the postponement would create chaos. It’s partly true because chaos already exists, but at what cost are you going to rectify that? Why are you not holding administrative and NMC responsible for this chaotic situation? If the Supreme Court’s statement is genuine enough, then they should also investigate as to who is responsible, and those guilty should be punished. The Supreme Court has already done this; they reasoned the abolishment of MCI and now their own child, i.e., NMC, is doing much worse than they aren’t able to speak.”

“India is a country with good administrative infrastructure. A commission has been constituted to look into the admission process, but unfortunately, we are in a shameful situation where we need to get a court involved to decide whether to conduct an examination or not. The court said that the postponement would create chaos. It’s partly true because chaos already exists, but at what cost are you going to rectify that? Why are you not holding administrative and NMC responsible for this chaotic situation? If the Supreme Court’s statement is genuine enough, then they should also investigate as to who is responsible, and those guilty should be punished. The Supreme Court has already done this; they reasoned the abolishment of MCI and now their own child, i.e., NMC, is doing much worse than they aren’t able to speak,” Jayalal claimed.

luck to all the NEET PG students, Jayalal advised them not to believe those who claim to gte the exams postponed and focus on their preparation.

“I will only tell the students that please do not dally on this issue. Yes, it is painful, but we must take it in a positive sense and there are some more days to prepare. Remember, it is true for everyone of us that the number of students who are going to get through this examination is only 45,000 out of the 2 lakh students appearing, and the rest may have to reappear, but this is not the end of your life but just the beginning. The more you learn, the more you prepare, and it is only going to help you in the future; you will be able to choose your college of interest. Please take it as a positive distraction and go ahead with a positive mindset. Do not trust the people who say, “I can get you a postponement,” and concentrate on your preparation. You have an opportunity to score because many of your colleagues are on the same scale,” he said.