Pulkit Santoshi has been preparing for the postgraduate medical entrance exam for the past two years.

Three days ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (postgraduate), scheduled to be held this Sunday, the government decided to defer the exam in view of the second wave of the pandemic. Without clarity on a fresh date for the exam, Santoshi said it was discouraging to “pursue a goal when the goalpost is nowhere to be seen”.

Many students preparing for admission to MD, MS, DNB and PG diploma courses expressed disappointment at the decision to defer the test indefinitely.

The National Board of Examination (NBE) conducts the NEET (PG) in January every year. This year, the NBE had deferred the test to April 18. Nearly 1.76 lakh candidates have applied for nearly 35,000 postgraduate seats in government and private institutions except the Institutions of National Importance like AIIMS. The NBE had issued admit cards.

“Preparation for the NEET (PG) involves a strategy. For that you need to know the date of the exam. Today, we do not know when the test will be held. It is disappointing,” Santoshi said.

He pointed out that AIIMS, which conducts its own entrance exam, had gone ahead with the test last year in May when the lockdown was in force. The NEET (undergraduate) was also conducted by the National Testing Agency in September when daily Covid cases had been in excess of 90,000.

“The country needs more doctors to attend to corona(virus) patients. We would have joined duty in hospitals after our admission,” Santoshi said.

While the NEET (PG) has been deferred, AIIMS on Saturday conducted the INI Combined Entrance Test for DM and M.CH superspeciality courses. On Tuesday, the Union health ministry had written to all states to consider the entrance test to be conducted by AIIMS as an essential activity. The postgraduate entrance exam is slated to be held on May 8.

Santoshi said the exam should be held soon so that students’ admission was not delayed.

Another student, Happy Kumar, said the decision to postpone the test was logical but “harsh” considering the preparations undertaken over several months.

“I can understand why the test has been postponed. Some candidates and invigilators may be suffering from Covid. They may spread it. But if you consider the preparations and coaching, it is a harsh decision,” Kumar said.

He suggested that the government should consider holding the NEET (PG) entrance exam on the same date as the AIIMS (PG) test. Nearly 70,000 candidates have applied for the AIIMS exam.

An NEET candidate in Calcutta supported the government’s decision. He said students could never celebrate their achievements if they contracted the coronavirus at exam centres and passed it onto their family members.

“The usual admission time is till August-end. The government postponed the exam because the daily Covid cases have crossed 2 lakh. Once the situation improves, the exam will be held. There won’t be much of an academic loss,” he said.

He said there were several logistical issues as well, such as travelling to other cities to take the test. Local curfews have been imposed in many places.

“The exam duration is three-and-a-half hours. But a student will have to spend four-and-a-half hours, including formalities. In case a person is corona(virus) positive, several students will be infected,” he said.

Vaibhav, a doctor in Gwalior, said that if there was a delay in admission to postgraduate courses, the promotion of first-year students would also be pushed back. The award of degrees to final-year students would also be delayed.

“The current first-year students are doing Covid duty. They can pursue their specialisation only when the fresh batch takes admission,” he said.