The Central government on Friday issued an ordinance to postpone the implementation of NEET or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – the common entrance test for medical and dental courses – for state governments and their affiliated institutions by a year so that the students have enough time to prepare.
The Cabinet decision will be sent to the President to pass an executive order, setting aside the apex court’s May 9th order on NEET. Facing pressure from state governments, who had opposed the proposal on grounds of logistical issues as well as regional differences in languages making NEET an unfair benchmark for students from state boards, the Centre will be deferring the implementation of the common medical entrance test by one year.
The next phase of the exam is scheduled for July 24. Nearly 6.5 lakh students have already sat for the first phase of NEET held on May 1.
Once the ordinance is issued, students of state government boards will not have to sit for NEET on July 24. They, however, will have to become part of the uniform entrance exam from next academic session, government sources clarified.
The exam will be applicable for those applying for Central government and private medical colleges.
The reason behind bringing National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions to medical and dental colleges across the country was to tackle the corruption and malpractices.
Major political parties and several states have favoured deferring implementation of the apex court verdict by one year. The Centre has already kicked off consultations on the issue, asserting the matter was essentially in “executive domain”.
However, Delhi chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to PM Modi asking him to not to bring any ordinance to overturn Supreme Court order on NEET.
