As the admit card release date nears, NEET PG applicants are requesting revisions to their assigned exam center cities. While many have received centers based on their communication addresses, others have been assigned one of the city choices they selected during the application process.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences(NBEMS) will release the NEET PG admit cards on August 8, with the exam scheduled for Sunday, August 11. After announcing the exam cities on July 31, NBEMS issued revised city slips on August 4. Despite this, some students are still concerned about their allotted exam centers, citing excessive travel time.

NBE Chief Abhijat Sheth explained, “After students expressed dissatisfaction with the exam city allotment, we decided to add more exam centers, leading to revised city slips for some students. We have excluded private exam centers to ensure safety, which means some students will need to travel further. Even within the same state, students may need to travel 100–150 km. We have tried our best to minimize their travel distance.”

With the admit card release approaching, NEET PG applicants are pushing for another revision of exam center cities. An aspirant who chose Sikar, Jaipur, Delhi, and Gwalior in that order was initially assigned Gwalior on July 31. However, NBE revised the city center to Jaipur on August 4, after the aspirant had already booked tickets for Gwalior.

“This exam center issue is causing me significant stress. For NEET PG, which was postponed a day before the exam, I was in Agra, ready to take the test. It’s challenging to get time off work, and the cost of booking tickets and staying overnight is a burden,” said the aspirant from Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, New Delhi.

Another aspirant, Ajith Kumar, who did not specify any preferred choices, was first assigned a city in Andhra Pradesh and later reassigned to Kerala, his correspondence address. 

“I now live in Delhi and waited for NBE to assign a center. The last-minute change is mentally exhausting. Traveling for two days for the exam is difficult,” he said.

On social media, applicants are advocating for NEET PG 2024 to be conducted in two shifts. Medical association boards, including FAIMA (Federation of All India Medical Association), and members of Parliament have appealed to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Education Ministry to consider holding the exam in a single shift at nearby test centers.

A senior resident at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi has urged JP Nadda, the newly elected Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, to re-evaluate the NEET PG exam center allocations. They request that centers be assigned within reasonable distances from students’ home states and that clear, timely information be provided.

Regarding flood-affected areas, including Assam, NBE Chief Sheth added that NBEMS has a mitigation plan in place and will implement it if conditions do not improve before the exam date.