The union health ministry last week announced the schedule of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET – PG) for all post-graduate medical programs for the coming 2017-18 academic season.
The pan-national common exam that serves as the gateway toMD, MS, and PG Diploma courses will be conducted by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) across 86 centers in 41 cities.
The exam starts from November 30, 2016, and will continue till December 3, 2016.
The NEET-PG website became live on Saturday, followed by the commencement of the registration process on Monday, September 26.
Worth noting, NEET-PG is a single window entrance test for all post-graduate medical programs offered by Indian universities and medical colleges. Unlike undergraduate and medical courses, there is no state-level or institution-level alternative to NEET-PG. (With the exception of autonomous institutes like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, PGIMER-Chandigarh, JIPMER-Pondicherry, NIMHANS-Bangalore and SRICHITRA Institute- Thiruvananthapuram.)
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had waved the green flag at NEET in an effort to get students rid of multiple entrance tests which, at times, can lead to corruption and irregularities.
Earlier this year in May, the government had promulgated the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016 and The Dentists (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016, as amendments to the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and Dentists Act, 1948 respectively.
The move was directed toward allowing states that didn’t follow the CBSE syllabus and/or conduct exams in regional languages to duly prepare