MUHS postpones final year postgraduate exams after students get posted for COVID-19 duty

The final year exams for postgraduate courses have been postponed by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS). The exams were scheduled to start from 24 June. The PG exams have been delayed in order to use the services of the resident doctors (who are in their final year) for COVID-19 work. The increasing number of coronavirus cases in the state is also the reason behind the delay. The recommendation for postponing the medical exams came from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research. A government official was quoted by The Times of India that doctors require study leave of at least 45 days before the exams and at this point, it would not be possible to relieve them of their duties. The official added that although Mumbai is doing better, the situation is different in other parts of Maharashtra and that is why final year doctors cannot be relieved because it will cause a shortage of manpower. The Centre had also issued an advisory asking state governments to utilise the services of resident doctors for COVID-related duty till the first-year batch joins. However, after the postponement of NEET PG 2021, there is no clarity about when the first-year doctors will be able to join college. The MUHS had also postponed undergraduate exams recently due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exams were scheduled to start from 19 April.