The National Eligibility cum Entrance test for post graduate students, scheduled to be held on April 18, has been postponed for the time being, in view of the rising Covid-19 cases, Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan tweeted on Thursday.

A day after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) cancelled class 10 exams and postponed class 12 exams, a similar decision was taken to postpone NEET PG 2021.

The petition for postponing the NEET-PG examination was made by a group of doctors. Their argument being that it was dangerous to have doctors treating COVID-19 patients on a daily basis assemble for the NEET-PG examinations and was not in public interest. The matter was heard by a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde,

The NEET-PG exam is conducted by the National Board of Examination for admission to MD, MS, PG Diploma programmes for the academic session 2021.

Several politicians including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had called for cancellation of the exams prior to the meeting, amid a huge spike in Covid-19 cases across India.