KL News Network
Srinagar
A doctors’ body in Kashmir on Tuesday said that the absence of a National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) centre in Kashmir for postgraduate (PG) medical courses has left aspirants in lurch.
President DAK, Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement said that lack of NEET centre for MD/MS/PG Diploma courses would jeopardize the future of thousands of aspiring doctors.
National Board of Examinations (NBE) will be conducting NEET for admission to various PG courses for the academic session 2017 from December 5 to 13.
“While 86 centres in 41 cities across the country have been set up, Kashmir has been left out. We were surprised with the decision of not providing a centre in Kashmir. This would mean that doctors who were hoping to pursue PG courses would not be able to do so,” said Dr Hassan.
As NEET has become mandatory for all medical courses, anxiety has gripped aspirants as they will not be able to write the test, he said.
“It is a dream for every doctor to become a specialist, but the aspirations of doctors in Kashmir have been shattered. As a result of this, people of the valley will be deprived of the services of specialist doctors.”
At a time when road and air connectivity is cut off due to harsh winter, candidates are asked to go outside valley for the examination, he said.
“Calling huge number of doctors outside for the test would collapse the healthcare delivery system. This would disrupt the functioning of hospitals and affect patient care.”
“We conveyed our apprehensions to National Board of Examinations (NBE) that our doctors will not be able to appear in the test unless the centre is provided in Kashmir, but to our utter dismay they were indifferent. We had appealed State government to intervene and prevail upon the concerned authorities to establish a centre here, but no efforts have been made in this regard.”
“When NEET was imposed in our state we were told that it would not be against the interests of aspirants, but the claims have proved false.”
