Health Ministry recommends NIOS inclusion in NEET; MCI response awaited as application ends on March 9

New Delhi, Feb 19: Medical Council of India (MCI) is yet to respond to a strong recommendation from Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHFW) asking the regulatory body to allow NIOS students for appearing in NEET. While the Ministry asked MCI to reconsider its stand on NIOS students on February 1, the MCI completely ignored the recommendation and went ahead with NEET notification on February 8.

The NEET Notification released on February 8 debars NIOS students from applying to the national level medical entrance exam. The notification which excluded NIOS students from NEET was released by MCI despite the Ministry’s stand that “excluding of NIOS qualification from NEET will be unreasonable and unjustified”. 

In a letter written to the MCI Secretary on February 1, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare suggested that CBSE grants recognition to NIOS and it is considered equivalent to other recognised Boards. The Health Ministry also informed the MCI that the matter has been discussed with MHRD and both the ministries and CBSE consider “NIOS a recognized qualification in the country”.

 “It is also learnt from CBSE that around 1500-2000 students from NIOS qualify NEET every year. Excluding NIOS qualification from NEET will be unreasonable and unjustified,” the letter read.

Recommending a reversal on the NIOS clause, the ministry also asked MCI to revert to it after the course correction. “The Council is requested to reconsider its decision for excluding the NIOS students from appearing in NEET (UG) and convey the same to this Ministry accordingly,” the ministry recommended MCI in the letter.

It has now been 10 days since the NEET notification was announced. The MCI, however, is yet to come up with any change in the notification that barred NIOS students from appearing in NEET.

Earlier, a Gazette of India notification published on January 23, 2018 had revealed that the Medical Council of India (MCI) had made amendments to the NEET 2018 Eligibility Criteria as per which students from open schools would not be allowed to apply. This had happened despite the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) promising students that it would revoke this rule and allow all NIOS students to appear. The NEET 2018 notification however revealed that the MCI’s proposal has prevailed. This, in effect, made NIOS students, who were eligible till NEET 2017, no longer eligible to apply for the exam.

The NEET application form was released on February 8 and the last date of form submission is March 9, 2018. The exam will be held on Sunday, May 6, 2018.

As NEET application approaches deadline, thousands of NIOS student still await MCI response on MoHFW recommendation. Careers360 is closely following development on this and we will keep you informed on the latest updates around this important issue.