Congress MP Shashi Tharoor urges Union health minister to reschedule NEET MDS exam

“I have been approached by dozens of our bright medical aspirants who have been in great distress over the 18 March date of the NEET MDS exam, which renders thousands of MDS interns (of the COVID-afflicted 2018 batch) ineligible. Despite an SC directive asking the govt to examine the matter sympathetically, the exam is yet to be rescheduled. I strongly urge the govt to expeditiously postpone the exam to a later date, and safeguard the future of our aspiring doctors,” said Shashi Tharoor on X (formerly Twitter).

I have been approached by dozens of our bright medical aspirants who have been in great distress over the March 18 date of the NEET MDS exam, which renders thousands of MDS interns (of the COVID-afflicted 2018 batch) ineligible. Despite an SC directive asking the govt to examine…

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 5, 2024

NEET MDS candidates and various student organisations are calling for a postponement of the exam to July 2024.

Despite bringing the matter to the Supreme Court, the apex court declined to intervene, directing the Union government to make the final decision on the requested extension.

Also Read: After NEET-PG, NEET Super Speciality cut-off percentile reduced to ‘zero’

FORDA reaches out to Health Ministry

Addressing the concerns raised by around 8,000 BDS interns regarding the eligibility criteria and inadequate preparation time, doctors affiliated with the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) formally approached the Union Health Ministry.

They are urging the ministry to consider postponing the NEET MDS exam and provide an extension for the internship completion deadline.

Our representatives met the officials from @MoHFW_INDIA to put forth the genuine demands of #NEETMDS2024 aspirants.

We’ve submitted our letter and requested @mansukhmandviya ji to consider their demands.

Based on our interactions, we strongly feel that DCI should’ve done… pic.twitter.com/hXgLxcB53X

— FORDA INDIA (@FordaIndia) March 4, 2024

Additionally, the association appealed to the health minister to contemplate extending the internship cut-off date for eligibility, emphasising that such a concession would be advantageous for the BDS interns.

“Conduct common counselling and admissions after the exam, synchronous with NEET PG. These measures are crucial for the future of MDS aspirants, who are pivotal to your government’s vision of a “Swasthya Bharat”.

They have pointed out the following issues:

1. Faulty Eligibility Criteria: Due to the pandemic, interns faced a training break, extending their completion dates by varying periods, some finishing as late as 24 August. Setting the eligibility criteria cut-off as 31 March unfairly debars them, jeopardising their careers.
2. Inadequate Preparation Time: With only 15 days left for the exam and the uncertainty surrounding it, interns lack the necessary clinical and theoretical knowledge to perform competitively. Postponing the exam will make many candidates eligible and will provide them with time that is imperative for fair preparation.
3. Parity with MBBS Interns: The health minister’s office and the National Medical Commission (NMC) adjusted the dates of this year’s NEET PG for MBBS interns affected by Covid (to July), but DCI failed to do a similar assessment for BDS interns.
4. Court Orders: Previous High Court orders and the recent order by the Supreme Court (writ petition(civil) 68 of 2022) highlight the need for uniform cut-off dates for eligibility and adequate preparation time for both MBBS and BDS students.

The association sought to reschedule the NEET MDS-2024 exam by a reasonable amount of time — preferably around the time of NEET PG 2024 — so that the issue of ineligibility was resolved and students got a fair shot at the exam.