The Gujarat government has refused to accept the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS course after class 12.
The Gujarat government has refused to accept the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS course after class 12. Government spokesperson and state health minister Jay Narayan Vyas cited legal complications and also stated that the national level test would not be in the interest of Gujarat students.
Talking to the media on Wednesday, Vyas said, "Gujarat has a single window system for admission to professional courses. The state has already been implementing the Supreme Court guidelines in this regard since 2007.
The state conducts a common entrance examination every year known as GUJCET under the Gujarat Professional Medical Educational Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) Act, 2007. It is the mechanism for admission to courses in medicine, dentistry, ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, physiotherapy and paramedical courses like nursing etc."
He said that if the state accepts NEET, there will be a legal conflict between the state Act passed in 2007 and NEET. "Even if the state has to accept NEET, we need to amend or change the Act of 2007 and get it passed in the assembly," said the health minister.
He said, "The main point that will affect Gujarat students a lot is that the test will be conducted in only two languages, Hindi and English. In Gujarat, 85% students are studying in Gujarati medium and they will have to bear the brunt of it because of this. We feel that NEET should also be conducted in regional languages for the welfare of students. In fact, in India, competitive examinations like that for civil services are also conducted in the regional languages apart from English and Hindi."
Vyas also said that presently 85% of the total seats in medical colleges in the state are reserved for students of Gujarat and 15% seats for students from the rest of the country through Pre Medical Test (PMT). It is not clear whether the 85% quota for students of Gujarat will be retained or not after NEET is accepted. If this reservation is not maintained, it is possible that many students of the state might not get medical education. Further, the syllabus for NEET is not clearly stated online, he said.
He also said that he has written a letter to the Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in this regard. Vyas said, "We have a federal system in our country and consultation with the state is required to bring about such changes, which has not been followed in this case.
There should be a ministerial level consultation meeting for the issue, which has not been done. So, taking all these issues into consideration, the Gujarat government has decided not to agree to the implementation of NEET in the state."
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