Mumbai: Calls are growing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses (NEET-PG) 2025 to be conducted in a single shift, rather than being split across two sessions. The entrance exam is scheduled to be held on June 15 in two separate shifts on a computer-based platform.

After activists, parents and students — who had criticised the two-shift format last year, arguing that the normalisation process lacked transparency as even individual scores were not released — the United Doctors Front (UDF) on Saturday formally urged Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to reconsider the decision. Separately, the doctors' body has also warned that it would move the Supreme Court if the authorities fail to restore the one-shift format.

In its letter to Nadda, UDF, a public charitable trust representing thousands of doctors and medical students nationwide, highlighted the overwhelming support for a single-shift examination gathered through a public poll.

“Out of 2,513 participants, an overwhelming 96% voted in favour of conducting NEET-PG 2025 in a single shift to ensure fairness, transparency, and a uniform evaluation process for all candidates,” the letter stated.

The poll was conducted independently on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to gauge the sentiment of NEET-PG aspirants across the country.

UDF pointed out that NEET-PG 2024 had triggered major dissatisfaction and legal challenges due to the two-shift format. “We respectfully reiterate that NEET-PG 2024 witnessed major dissatisfaction and legal challenges due to the two-shift format,” the letter said, urging that NEET-PG 2025 be conducted under a “One Nation, One Shift format to maintain the sanctity of this important examination”.

The organisation stressed that conducting the examination in a single shift would eliminate discrepancies arising from the normalisation procedures, restore public trust in the medical entrance examination process, and reduce candidate anxiety while also avoiding unnecessary litigation risks. “This positive step will not only ensure fairness but also reaffirm the aspirants' faith in the system,” UDF said.

When the exam schedule was announced on April 16, this newspaper had reported that activists, parents and students had sharply criticised the two-shift format.

The controversy around the two-shift format began last year when the authorities, citing concerns over paper leaks seen in the undergraduate NEET (a pen-and-paper examination), slashed postgraduate exam centres and split NEET-PG into two shifts. Activists had pointed out that until 2023, NEET-PG, being a secure, computer-based examination, had always been conducted in a single shift without any reported breaches.

“But in 2024, fearing a repeat of the NEET-UG leak, the government suddenly slashed PG exam centres and split the exam into two shifts. No raw scores were declared, only All India Ranks (AIRs), which led to legal petitions,” Brijesh Sutaria, a Mumbai-based medical education activist, had told The Free Press Journal earlier this month.

Parents too had raised serious concerns over the fairness of the evaluation process. “Unlike the Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET), which has experience and competence in multi-shift exams, NBEMS (National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences) lacks transparency,” said Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative.

Shenoy had further highlighted that discrepancies between the question papers of the two shifts in 2024 were significant, citing examples where the number of questions in subjects like Anatomy and Pathology varied notably between sessions. “Such fluctuations raise questions about the fairness of evaluating candidates through normalisation,” she had added.