Aspiring medical candidates and junior doctors have raised concerns over the two-shift format of the NEET PG 2025 exam, urging the Union Health Minister JP Nadda to reinforce the single-shift model. The National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) announced that the National Eligibility Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG) will be conducted on June 15, 2025, in two shifts—the first from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM and the second from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM.
Concerns Over Transparency and Fairness
The decision sparked outrage among aspirants and medical professionals, who argue that holding the exam in multiple shifts creates disparities in difficulty levels and undermines transparency. Many candidates have taken to social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), to express their frustration, recalling issues with last year’s normalization process.
The Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors’ Network (IMA-JDN) has formally approached the Union Health Ministry, stating the need to bring back the one shift exam policy and highlighted the struggles and tensions faced in NEET PG 2024, where Shift 2 was significantly more difficult, leading to disparities in scores and rankings.
Calls for Urgent Intervention
In an open letter, the Chairman of the Federation of All India Association (FARMA), Manish Jangdha, demanded the return of the single-shift exam, citing the 2017 exam policy as a precedent. The Unified Doctors Front (UDF) also wrote to JP Nadda, urging reconsideration of the decision.
Dr. Indranil Deshmukh, National Secretary of IMA-JDN, emphasized that over 2 lakh NEET-PG aspirants could face the same transparency issues as last year. He urged authorities to expand exam centers, ensure fair score calculation, and restore credibility in medical education.
Government’s Response
The NBEMS has defended its decision, stating that the two-shift model allows for better security and logistical management. However, critics clearly dismissed the reason arguing that these 2 shift models are flawed, leading to bias in rankings.
The debate over NEET PG 2025’s fairness continues, as aspirants await a final decision on whether their demands for a single-shift exam will be met. While the answer lies in JP Nadda’s letter replying to the concern.
Exam Info
The NEET PG 2025 is about to take place on 15th June 2025 in two shifts (according to the present announcement by NBEMs). The first shift will start from 9:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m and the second shift from 3:30 to 7:00p.m.
For the NEET PG 2025, The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBE) released the application form from 17th April 2025 and candidates can further apply till 7th May 2025.