NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is not planning to take action on the Madras High Court’s remark that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) favours the urban and wealthy candidates who can afford coaching.

In the ministry’s view, “the matter has already been settled” by the Supreme Court and the Parliament, it told Lok Sabha in response to a question on March 13.

NEET Impersonation

The NEET was made the single exam for admission into all medical colleges across the country on the order of the Supreme Court. It covered all states first in 2017. Two years later, in 2019, widespread corruption and impersonation were discovered in the examination and counselling process in some states. The cases reached the Madras High Court which, on the basis of data shared by the state of Tamil Nadu, had made two broad observations in November 2019.

According to the government’s own reply, the Madras HC had noted that “the number of candidates who appeared multiple times got admission more than who appeared the first time and also only negligible candidates got admission without undergoing coaching”.

However, the Madras HC’s observations were on equity and access. The Firstpost reported that the court said: “That means medical education is not available to the poor people and it is available only to those who underwent coaching classes by spending lakhs of rupees. Moreover, this will also put rural students in a disadvantageous position, as they lack facilities of undergoing coaching." These are the comments referred to in the Parliament question.

The Response

However, the Central Government does not intend to address the issues raised by the Madras High Court. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has referred to a number of laws and Supreme Court judgments to explain why, in its view, no action is required to improve access to rural students.

Tamil Nadu had attempted to block the implementation of NEET in the state by passing two Bills to that effect in the state legislatures but was ultimately thwarted by the Centre. As the response says: “The provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 for conducting NEET shall apply across the country without any exemption.”

The reply also reminds that the National Medical Commission Act 2019 now provides for NEET – Tamil Nadu had objected to that as well – and that the exam was originally made mandatory by the Supreme Court. In 2016, the SC had ruled that “only NEET would enable students to get admission to MBBS or BDS studies”.

Also read :

• NEET Scam: Experts suggest better use of technology, further centralization of exam’s management

• AIIMS and JIPMER to admit students based on NEET scores from 2020

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