Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): After a petition filed in the principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court, National Board of Examination for Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has postponed National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) MDS 2022 examination extending the cut-off date for completion of the internship to meet the eligibility requirements, as was demanded by BDS students, according to advocate. NEET MDS 2022 dates will be announced later on.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) had sent a letter to the NBEMS to postpone NEET MDS 2022 exam, and also extend its cut off date for completing internship on February 17.
Advocate Prashant Manchanda, who appeared on behalf of petitioners, said, NBEMS has extended the cut-off date for completion of the internship to meet the eligibility requirements, as was demanded by BDS students from May 31, 2022, to July 31,2022. We had filed the petition in the High Court. So now HC has disposed of the matter as NBEMS has provided relief to dental students not only of Madhya Pradesh but also seven other states.”
Initially, the NEET MDS 2022 examination was scheduled to be conducted on March 06, 2022. The postgraduate entrance test in the field of dentistry was going to be organized in the computer-based format, at selected centers across the country. Only those candidates who fulfilled the age-related, educational, and internship criteria were allowed to appear for this exam.
Previously, NBEMS had issued an information bulletin in 2022. The bulletin prescribes March 31, 2022, as the cut-off date for completing the mandatory 12-month internship so as to be eligible for NEET MDS 2022. This means that the students of MPMSU have to suffer for no fault of theirs and are excluded from the eligibility as their internships cannot be completed before May 31, 2022.
The students of bachelor of dental surgery (BDS) course had filed a petition in High Court, Jabalpur, challenging the exclusion of more than 1,000 students of Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University (MPMSU) in NEET MDS 2022 examination. The petitioners had demanded that students who could not complete internship before March 31, 2022, should be allowed to appear in NEET MDS 2022 examination.
According to petition, MPMSU, which conducted examination of final year BDS students in February 2021, failed to declare results on time, that is, before March 31, 2021.
The results were declared on June 1, 2021, and the 12-month compulsory rotatory internship of the students could start only on June 2, 2021. Their internship began two months late as the university declared results late. The students had made representations to authorities including vice chancellor of Madhya Pradesh Medical Sciences University, Dental Council of India, Directorate of Medical Education but to no avail.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a delay in the conduction of final-year university exams. This invariably, caused a delay in the internship period, deeming candidates ineligible to apply for NEET MDS 2022. They would have to wait an entire year to give the entrance exam.
