Northeastern states and Himachal Pradesh do not have a center for the NEET MDS test
Many dentistry students who are taking the competitive test for the post-graduate entrance examination will have to travel hundreds of kilometers since there aren’t enough centers.
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has released a list of centers; of these, 56 will administer the examination, as opposed to 76 in 2023.
Furthermore, Himachal Pradesh, the Northeastern provinces, and Union Territories like Kashmir, Chandigarh, and Puducherry have not been given a center.
As no center was allotted in the Northeastern states, a dental intern from Tripura stated she was forced to choose Bengaluru. Agartala had one test center the previous year.
“I was forced to choose Bengaluru since, at the time I became eligible for the entrance test, only this city was accepting registrations. To take this test, however, I’ll need to travel 3,500 kilometers from East India to Bengaluru in the South. From Agartala, there is just one train every week, and the journey takes 65 hours. My budget does not allow for the excessive expense of flights. This is all happening while getting ready for the test. “I’m in so much pain and stress,” Dr. Sonakshi Deb said.
Dr. Vatsala Patiyal, a candidate from Himachal Pradesh, said, “We are compelled to choose centers that are far from our birthplace. Organizing tickets, transportation, and hotel adds to our already heavy planning load.
This year, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Kanpur are not included in the list, leaving Uttar Pradesh with only two centers.
When contacted for response, Vikas Chawda, Secretary of the Dental Council of India, said that the matter was not within the council’s jurisdiction.
As previously reported by this publication, more than 6,000 dental students from the 2018 class would not be able to take the MDS test because they did not meet the internship requirements. Students claim that interruptions from COVID-19 caused their coursework to be disrupted, delaying internships.
