Govt proposes scrapping NEET-PG

In a relief to medical students looking to pursue postgraduate courses, the Union Health Ministry has proposed to do away with NEET-PG, and instead the final MBBS examination would be enough for admission to MD and MS programmes.

The amendment has been incorporated in the revised draft National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill which would be sent to the Cabinet soon, official sources said. According to them, the changes have been incorporated in the bill on the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“According to the amendments made in the fresh NMC Bill, entry to PG programmes will be on the basis of the results of the National Exit Test (NEXT), which will be held as a common exam across the country. So the candidates will not have to appear in a separate exam after clearing the MBBS final exam for admission to PG courses,” the source explained.

The students will also not be required to appear in a separate exam after MBBS to obtain a licence to practice.

However, for admission to PG programmes at AIIMS, clearing a separate exam will remain mandatory. Also, the NEET Super Speciality, which is a national-level entrance exam for admission in DM/MCh courses, will continue.

Every year, 80,000 students take admission into MBBS courses in about 480 medical colleges in the country, while 1.5 lakh students appear for entrance exams for admission to around 50,000 PG seats.

The NMC Bill was introduced in Parliament in December 2017, but it lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. After its introduction in the lower house in 2017, the bill, which aims to replace the Medical Council of India Act, 1956, and included the contentious provision of a “bridge course” to allow practitioners of alternative medicines to pursue allopathy, was referred to a Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee following massive protests from the medical fraternity.