The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) for 2025, a national-level entrance examination for admission to post-graduate medical courses, will be held in a single shift on August 3. This comes after the Supreme Court Friday cleared the request of the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to reschedule the exam, which was originally planned to be held in two shifts on June 15.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and A G Masih allowed the application by NBEMS to extend the time for conducting the exam till August 3, 2025. Hearing a petition challenging the plan to conduct the test in two shifts, the top court had on May 30 asked NBEMS to hold it in one shift.
Questioning the decision to hold it in two shifts, the court rejected the argument by NBEMS that there were not enough centres to accommodate all the candidates for NEET-PG. “We are not ready to accept that in the entire country, and considering the technological advancements in this country, the examining body could not find enough centres to hold the examination and one shift,” the bench said. Subsequently, NBEMS filed an application before the court for an extension of time.
On Friday, Justice Mishra asked the counsel for NBEMS, “You want time till August 3? Why so much time?” Justice Masih added, “You haven’t started the process even. The order was passed on May 30. What have you done after that? This is delaying. Why (do) you need two months?”
It also allowed NBEMS to approach it and seek an extension of time. The NBEMS then cited a letter by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which said the test can be held only on August 3.
Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, too, said that they arrived at the date of August 3 after several rounds of high-level meetings.
Last year, for the first time, NEET-PG was held in two shifts instead of one. The examination took place on August 11, with sessions from 9 am to 12.30 pm and 3.30 pm to 7 pm.
