The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) for MBBS courses will be conducted in eight languages from the next academic year, 2017-18. The languages are Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu and Tamil.
The decision to conduct the exams in regional languages was taken under the directions of Union Health Minister JP Nadda after “rigorous and extensive consultations with State Governments about their examination pattern and other related aspects”, said a statement from the Health Ministry issued on Wednesday.
The language will not impact the candidate’s All India Rank. Candidates qualifying NEET will be eligible for all India quota and other quotas under the State Governments/Institutes irrespective of the medium in which exam is taken by the candidate, subject to other eligibility criteria. The decision is to bring parity for the students who have taken the State Board exams, said the statement.
Implementation of NEET in regional languages is the outcome of the NDA Government’s commitment to bring about transparency in medical education and remove malpractices.
This is in continuation with the meeting of Nadda with the Health Ministers and Health Secretaries/representatives of 18 States/UTs in May this year towards implementation of NEET across States.
Health Ministry Joint Secretary (Medical Education) AK Singhal stated ‘the collaborative efforts of Central Health Ministry with the State Health Ministries have lead to this decision so as to bring parity for the students who have taken the State Board exams,” as per the statement.