New Delhi, Apr 15 (IANS): A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court by nine doctors seeking a direction to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for post graduate candidates, scheduled for April 18, against the backdrop of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
The petitioners contended that holding the exam amid the pandemic is in a way pressurizing the graduate doctors on a pan-India level, when the government has already postponed the examinations for Class 10 and 12 students.
"The (NEET PG) examination was initially scheduled for January 2021 but stood postponed due to the Covid situation which was far better than the present situation with over 1 lakh cases per day," said the plea filed through advocate Pallavi Pratap.
The National Board of Examinations had issued a notification on April 9 fixing the exam for April 18.
The plea contended that the entire notification and conduct of examination on April 18, is not in public interest in view of the present spike in Covid-19 cases and non-availability of doctors and beds in the hospitals, coupled with the fact that there is a dearth of vaccinations.
"The government had taken measures to vaccinate doctors, but it is a matter of fact that all the doctors who are sitting for the examination are yet to be vaccinated, nor there is a requirement to submit a RT-PCR test report conducted 72 hours prior to the examination", added the plea.
The petitioners said such non-mention of the RT-PCR test is actually resulting in endangering the life of thousands of doctors who are frontline workers in different hospitals, and is a clear violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.
The plea argued that the examination is a computer-based test where it will be difficult to observe the 6 feet distance.
The plea also challenged para 8 of the notification which bars Covid positive candidates from appearing for the exam. The petitioners argued that such candidates should be allowed to re-appear for the examination in future.
The plea added the candidates taking the exam are also treating Covid-19 patients daily and there are high chances that they could be carriers of the virus.
The top court is likely to take up the plea on Friday.