NEET-PG candidates seek postponement of AIQ counseling due to state-level holdup

NEET-PG candidates in Kerala have asked the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) to postpone the third round of All India Quota (AIQ) counseling for the 2024 academic year, citing delays in the completion of the second round of state-level counselling. Many states.

With a limited number of postgraduate medical seats available in Kerala, many candidates usually rely on vacancies in other states to secure admission.

The MCC, which is responsible for managing the counseling and seat allotment process for medical courses in India, is scheduled to conduct the third round of AIQ counseling in deemed, central and other universities from December 26 to January 1.

Under normal circumstances, the AIQ and state counseling processes run concurrently, allowing students to make informed choices. Further, the seats remaining vacant after the state counseling process are usually carried forward to the subsequent AIQ counseling round.

However, this year, the counseling process for PG seats in various states including Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan has been delayed or suspended due to ongoing legal proceedings. This delay has resulted in non-availability of many seats to be included in the third phase of AIQ counselling.

Aspirants argue that if the third round goes ahead as scheduled, these seats will not be written in the AIQ counseling process, depriving eligible candidates of an opportunity to secure seats on merit. Instead, these seats may be allotted in a vagrant round of counselling, where lower-ranked candidates often fill them, potentially denying higher-ranked candidates a fair chance, a candidate lamented.

They have requested to postpone the third round of AIQ counseling for one week to complete the state level counselling. They believe that this delay will ensure that all available seats are included in the third round of counselling, giving a fair chance to all candidates based on merit.

The issue has further compounded the difficulties faced by NEET-PG aspirants, who are already frustrated with the conduct of the exam this year. The exam, which was conducted in two shifts, had different levels of difficulty, leading to controversy over the normalization process promised by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to ensure fair grading. Many of the second shift candidates got unexpectedly lower ranks than those who appeared in the first shift.

Moreover, NBEMS released only the percentage marks by withholding the raw scores and answer keys, which left many candidates dissatisfied with the transparency of the process. Many candidates, frustrated with the situation, approached the Supreme Court. The case has been adjourned seven times, with the latest hearing now scheduled for January 7.