The postponement of NEET PG 2025 from June 15 to August 3 has sparked nationwide concern, particularly around the lack of exam centres. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to social media to highlight the issue, stating that medical aspirants in Kerala were unable to select test centres within the state as slots were exhausted within minutes of the portal reopening.
Tharoor criticised the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) for failing to ensure equitable access, especially after the Supreme Court mandated that the exam be conducted in a single shift for fairness. “It is unfair to restrict the number of centres in the state and put the candidates through distress, inconvenience, and financial burden,” Tharoor said.
Dear @JPNadda, Candidates from Kerala appearing for the NEET-PG 2025 exam are unable to choose any city within the state as their test city, as the available seats were exhausted within minutes of the website reopening. As NBEMS already has data on the number of applicants from…
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 13, 2025
However, the problem is not isolated to Kerala. Users across social media platforms echoed similar concerns from other states, with candidates reporting long travel distances, rising costs, and severe mental stress.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t just an issue limited to Kerala NEET-PG aspirants across the nation are facing similar distress. Students are being forced to travel thousands of kilometers, endure exhausting train journeys, and bear heavy financial burdens just to appear for an exam that determines their future. Students and users urged the concerned authorities to take urgent action in favour of student welfare. They ask for “fair allocation of centres based on real-time applicant data,” an X user wrote.
The Supreme Court’s directive to postpone NEET PG 2025 followed concerns raised by student groups and medical associations over the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences’ (NBEMS) plan to conduct the exam in multiple shifts. Petitioners argued that varying question paper difficulty across shifts had previously led to unfair outcomes. The Court also responded to demands for greater transparency in the normalisation process and ultimately mandated that NEET PG 2025 be held in a single shift to ensure uniformity.
While the postponement aimed to address these fairness issues and streamline logistics, it has instead exposed glaring deficiencies in planning. The lack of adequate test centres and real-time data-driven allocation has left thousands of aspirants across states without nearby exam options, fueling frustration and renewed calls for systemic reform.