26 Doctors move Supreme Court seeking postponement of AIIMS INI CET Examination, 2021

Twenty-six doctors have approached the Supreme Court seeking postponement of the INI CET Examination, 2021 which is scheduled to be conducted by All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) on June 16, 2021. .The INI CET Exam is conducted for admissions to higher studies in the field of medicine/post graduate studies..The petition filed through advocate Pallavi Pratap said that holding the examination on June 16 is in utter disregard to the assurance with respect to postponement of PG Examinations, given by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) while postponing the NEET PG Examination, 2021 by four months. .It was also stated in the said communication by PMO that the students will be given at least one month’s time in order to prepare for the said examination.."In the instant case, only 19 days prior notice is given. Also centres for examination are in different states or far from the aspirants’ place of working which may require travelling and thereby facing travel restrictions," the petition said. .The petitioners also cited how holding the examination in the midst of the pandemic will pile up pressure on graduate doctors and highlighted how board exams were cancelled. "In the prevailing circumstances due to COVID-19, the conducting of this examination is resulting in building up pressure on the graduate doctors from across India to sit for the examination on 16th June, 2021, when under the present circumstances the Board examinations (Central Board of Secondary Education 10th and 12th Grade) and other professional examinations have been either cancelled or postponed," the petition stated. .Moreover, many doctors are not fully vaccinated and many have not even received the first dose of COVID vaccine. Therefore, holding the examination could endanger their lives, it was contended. "Conducting of this examination is resulting in endangering the life of thousands of doctors who are frontline workers in different hospitals which is a clear negation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the petitioners submitted.