Over 2,000 doctors in eight states who have completed postgraduate studies have sought intervention from the country’s apex medical regulator, saying legal proceedings have stalled their final exams for over a year, casting uncertainty over their careers.
A nationwide body of doctors representing postgraduate students of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) has asked the National Medical Commission (NMC) to safeguard their careers as specialists by ensuring the examinations are conducted at the earliest.
The Mumbai-based CPS offers two-year diplomas and three-year fellowships, providing an additional pathway for postgraduate medical studies in India alongside the MD, MS and DNB routes. Admissions are merit-based through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-PG, the same exam used for entry into MD and MS courses.
The delay in exams has created what doctors describe as a paradox. “We’re fully trained postgraduate doctors but unable to practise as specialists even though government hospitals face shortages of specialists,” said Chirag Desai, a member of the All India CPS Doctors’ Association.
Union health ministry data from 2024 show that community health centres in rural areas were operating with a 79 per cent shortfall of specialists — anaesthesiologists, gynaecologists and paediatricians — with around 4,500 in position against a requirement of 21,000.
The delay stems from a Bombay High Court order in March 2025. Acting on a petition that questioned the continuation of CPS courses over inadequate teaching infrastructure, the court directed the institution to halt its courses and exams until it meets postgraduate standards — stalling the final exams scheduled for April 2025.
“We are not at fault. Our admissions were entirely merit-based through the NEET-PG exam and counselling by state governments,” Desai told The Telegraph, adding that students had pursued their training in good faith under a government-recognised, merit-based system. Members of the association plan to hold a protest outside the NMC’s office in New Delhi on Thursday.
The association estimates that more than 2,000 doctors across disciplines — including anaesthesiology, dermatology, gynaecology and obstetrics, orthopaedics, pathology and radiology — are awaiting final examinations.
The affected CPS students are in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, and Rajasthan.
In a note it plans to submit to the NMC, the association has said these doctors have completed full-time residency programmes in government or government-approved institutions and contributed to patient care while fulfilling all academic and clinical requirements.
Desai and other members of the association had last year approached the Supreme Court seeking early conduct of the examinations, arguing that they were admitted when CPS courses were recognised by the NMC or state governments.
The association has also urged the NMC to take a proactive position before the Supreme Court and push for a time-bound resolution, including the conduct of examinations at the earliest.
“Today, we find ourselves professionally incomplete despite being trained postgraduate doctors,” the association said, adding that the delay has led to financial hardship, limited employment prospects and stalled academic progression.
During hearings in the Supreme Court last year, the attorney-general representing the Centre had sought three weeks’ time to come up with a plan to protect the interests of students who have completed the courses and are awaiting the final exams. Doctors say no concrete resolution has followed since.