NEET-PG Exam Cancelled Amid Impersonation Threats, Rescheduled for August 11

In a sudden turn of events, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Postgraduate) scheduled for June 23 has been cancelled just hours before its scheduled commencement. The decision was taken as a precautionary measure due to credible intelligence inputs suggesting potential impersonation or manipulation attempts in the computer-based test, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Although there was no actual leak of the exam, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) received information indicating a significant risk of the exam being compromised. A senior official revealed that there were credible complaints and intelligence inputs suggesting possible impersonation attempts at some centres, prompting the decision to postpone the exam.

In a press release issued late on June 22, the government announced the postponement of the NEET-PG exam, describing it as a precautionary measure taken due to “recent incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations.” The Health Ministry stated that it would conduct a thorough assessment of the robustness of the NEET-PG entrance exam processes and would announce a new exam date as soon as possible.

The exam has now been rescheduled for August 11, with over 240,000 candidates set to take the test to compete for around 24,000 MD seats, 12,600 MS seats, and 900 PG Diploma seats at various medical institutions. The NEET-PG scores are crucial for securing admission to postgraduate medical programmes in both government and private institutes.

The cancellation of the exam comes as the Centre prepares to start NEET-UG 2024 counselling in the third week of July. Although the dates for the second round of registration have not been disclosed, the third round is expected to commence by the second week of September. The postponement of the NEET-PG exam is aimed at protecting the students’ interests and upholding the examination’s integrity.