NCPCR requests NTA to conduct NEET UG twice a year to give ‘big relief’ to students

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has requested the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET UG) twice a year. This came after the child rights body received an application from Navneet Singh, a member of All India Students Union (AISU).

“The commission has received a complaint on Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) from Navneet Singh, AISU member. According to the complaint, conducting NEET UG twice a year would be a big relief for aspirants. If candidates do not get medical seats in the first attempt, then they will have another opportunity to try and get the seats. This will save students from waiting for an entire one year and the students who will be able to score better marks will get admission in good medical colleges,” Dharmendra Bhandari, principal personal secretary to NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo, wrote in his letter to NTA.

Through the letter dated May 9, 2023, Bhandari requested NTA to take suitable action in this regard and inform the same to Singh.

Even though the NCPCR is requesting NTA to hold NEET UG twice, Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state (MoS) in the ministry of health and family welfare in a written reply to the Lok Sabha in March 2023 had stated that there is no proposal to conduct the NEET UG twice a year.

NEET UG: ‘Immense pressure on students’

AISU has sent a representation to National Medical Commission (NMC), union education ministry and union health on behalf of NEET UG aspirants and their parents requesting them to take suitable action for holding NEET UG twice a year.

NTA conducts the single national-level undergraduate medical entrance exam in 13 languages every year for admission to 645 medical, 318 dental, 914 AYUSH, and 47 BVSc and AH colleges in India. NEET UG 2023 was conducted in offline mode on Sunday, May 7 for 20,87,449 medical aspirants this year.

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AISU said that the current system of conducting NEET UG only once a year puts “immense pressure on the students to perform well in a single attempt” and it also “leads to a high level of stress and anxiety among the students, which affects their mental health.”

Stating that conducting NEET twice a year would be a “big relief for aspirants”, AISU said that this “will give the students a better opportunity to appear and prepare well for this exam” and “candidates will have a better chance to secure coveted medical college seats.”

“It often happens that after an unsuccessful attempt in NEET, candidates either take admission to another course that they do not prefer and simultaneously prepare for NEET for the next year or drop a year to prepare better and appear for the exam again. With two attempts, they will be able to save an academic year and take admission to a college and course of their choice,” AISU said in its letter.

Conducting NEET twice a year with a gap of 40-50 days, AISU said, “will change the entire system, making it better for the students and medical fraternity.”

NEET UG like JEE Advanced

Meanwhile, another students group All India JEE NEET Students Association (AIJNSA) has submitted a letter to top medical colleges in India including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) seeking their opinion on conducting NEET UG like JEE advanced, the national-level exam conducted by Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) for admission to the 23 IITs in India.

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“…There have been numerous irregularities in the NEET UG conducted by NTA including instances of paper leaks, which have had a detrimental impact on the future of many talented students. In light of these issues. AIJNSA is suggesting that NEET-UG should be conducted by all premier medical institutions in India similar to the JEE-Advanced conducted by all IITs. We believe that conducting the exam through these institutes will ensure greater security, transparency, and fairness in the exam process and will prevent any future paper leaks or other irregularities,” AIJNSA wrote in its letter.