NEET-PG: The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a request by doctors, most of whom were final-year medical students who worked as frontline employees in COVID units, to extend the internship deadline beyond July 31. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Post Graduate (NEET-PG) 2022 requires the completion of an internship.
Any further extension, according to a bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, would disturb the academic schedule.
The academic calendar has NEET-PG scheduled
“Whenever a cut-off is established, some students are bound to fall on either side of the line. Any extension of the deadline will disturb the academic calendar,” the court agreed with the government’s arguments stated by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.
The court also rejected the students’ alternate suggestion to integrate their COVID tasks into the internship program, which was proposed by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan. Ms. Bhati stated that COVID’s responsibilities did not cover a wide range of specializations and that the time spent in COVID wards could not be included in the internship program.
The Bench stated that it did not wish to micromanage medical education. “While there would surely be some difficulty, it would not be possible to disrupt the education of a large number of pupils at this time.” As a result, in the court’s considered opinion, it will not be appropriate to intervene,” the court said.
The first internship deadline for admittance to the class of 2022 was May 31. The government had prolonged it to July 31 after the court intervened in February. Ms. Bhati stated that the deadline could not be extended because classes were set to begin in August. Mr. Sankaranarayan expressed regret that these students, who had responded to the Prime Minister’s appeal to fight the COVID struggle, would now have to forfeit a year.