Common PG Medical Entrance Test Postponed for 2013

The government has postponed the common PG medical entrance test to next year. The main reason behind the postponement is lack of resources and expertise which is required to conduct the examination on a national scale in different medical streams. The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) for all postgraduate medical seats across the country will now be held in 2013 only.

National Board for Examination (NBE) will now conduct the examination. Health Secretary PK Pradhan said that, currently, it does not have capacity to conduct the exam. Earlier, the test was scheduled to be held in January-February 2012 for admissions in the academic year 2012-2013 and the Medical Council of India had requested the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to hold the test on its behalf.

At present, there are about 21,000 PG seats in the country. Currently, AIMS conducts about 50% of the entrance examinations in the country for existing PG medical seats. AIMS have declined the request of MCI, citing its inability to conduct the proposed NEET on such a large scale.

Source: Richha Bhatnagar (Shiksha Team)