JOIN USThe plan to hold a single national test for admission to medical colleges has again received a setback with the decision not to hold the test in May 2012.
The proposal had faced many difficulties and opposition ever since it was mooted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) two years ago but after many months of debate, flipflops by the government and litigation it had seemed that it had been accepted. But the governments at the Centre and in many states seem to have again given in to pressure from vested interests who wanted to scuttle the decision. The present decision not to hold the test in 2012 is ostensibly on grounds of lack of preparedness but it is likely that the failure to make timely preparations was deliberate.
The MCI finalised the course content for the National Eligibility cum Entrance test (NEET) only last month and several institutions have expressed their inability to hold the test in so short a time. Some states have also announced that they would not be able to implement the decision. When the CBSE approached the Supreme Court on the holding of the test, the union health ministry again had reservations and now the CBSE plans to hold a separate test for 15 per cent of the seats in government medical colleges, as it used to do every year.
It is to be noted that states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh did not agree with the idea of common entrance test. It is no coincidence that these are the states where there are the maximum number of private medical colleges and deemed universities which are against the idea of a common test. If these states are out of the NEET, the test will not be applicable to admissions in 60 per cent of the medical seats in the country.
The Supreme Court had approved the move to hold a common entrance test. It has now expressed its displeasure with the union ministry of heath after an application was filed to postpone the test and even said that the court would not be a party to the move. In spite of the court’s unhappiness it is now clear that the test will not be held in 2012. It is unfortunate that a proposal which had been widely welcomed by students and their parents is being scuttled. The Supreme Court should now ensure that it will be implemented in 2013.