Admission to all undergraduate medical and dental courses in the country will now be through only the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET). Ordering this on Monday, the Supreme Court invalidated all other exams, conducted by States, private colleges, deemed colleges, and association of management of private colleges.
“Only NEET would enable students to get admission to MBBS or BDS studies,” a Bench of Justices Anil R Dave, Shiva Kirti Singh and Adarsh K Goel said.
The court also gave a big concession to medical aspirants by allowing those students who already gave NEET-I on May 1 to re-appear for the second phase of NEET, slated for July 24, if candidates to give up their candidature for NEET-I. Also, the court directed the Oversight Committee constituted recently by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court to monitor functions of Medical Council of India (MCI), will oversee the conduct of NEET-II.
“We direct all such eligible candidates who could not appear in NEET-I and those who had appeared but have apprehension that they had not prepared well, be permitted to appear in NEET-II, subject to seeking an option from the said candidates to give up their candidature for NEET-I,” the Bench said.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the agency that conducts NEET, informed the court that over 6.5 lakh students appeared for NEET-I. This number is expected to rise to over nine lakh if the registered students are given a fresh chance to appear with those who apply fresh under the NEET. Realising the logistic constraints and other factors that may go into conducting the exam on such a large scale, the Bench directed, “It would be open to the respondent (CBSE) to reschedule the date of holding NEET-II, if necessary.”
The order brought a close to the proceedings that went on for days in which private colleges and States opposed NEET’s implementation this year. The States felt that students will be put to hardship as the common entrance test of States are held in vernacular languages, unlike NEET that was held in English and Hindi.
When the Bench asked CBSE if it was possible to have question papers prepared in vernacular languages, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand assured that efforts will be made but failed to give any assurance. The final order did not make any recommendation to this effect, leaving it to the choice and discretion of CBSE.
Private colleges too had opposed the NEET claiming it would affect their autonomy. Minority colleges pleaded their separate character and sought exemption from the NEET. But the order by the Bench said, “Prima facie we do not find any infirmity in the NEET regulation on the ground that it affects the rights of the States or private institutions…nor rights of minorities are in any manner affected by the NEET. The NEET only provides for conducting entrance test for eligibility for admission to MBBS/BDS course,” the order said.