Re-entry NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test): Opportunity and concerns.

ABSTRACT

The recent judgment on NEET will go a long way in reducing gross malpractice and corruption in admissions to MBBS and postgraduate medical courses. It is also an opportunity to improve the quality of the tests conducted. Currently, medical schools in India have different policies for admission to government-run and privately-run institutions. There are 200 government medical schools (27 180 seats) and 212 private medical schools (25 535 seats), with a total capacity to admit 52 715 students.1 In 2013, the Medical Council of India (MCI) notified the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS and postgraduate medical courses.2 Through NEET, aspirants could appear for a single examination and apply for admission to any college of their choice across the country, except in the states of Andhra Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. NEET also specified that students would be admitted on the basis of the examination scores alone and no extraneous factors would come into play. NEET has been held only once in 2013, following which it was struck down by the Supreme Court. On 11 April 2016, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court recalled its controversial 2013 judgment which struck down the common entrance examination for all medical colleges in India. NEET was introduced with the purpose of reducing the mental and financial burden on medical aspirants, who had to appear in a number of entrance examinations across the country—at the allIndia level, state level or private medical school level. Students had the option to appear for 17 different examinations, each set at various levels of difficulty. The process was costly, cumbersome and confusing, with students of varying academic capabilities being admitted to medical schools through a long-drawn admission process. Another important reason was to prevent financial malpractices, such as compulsory donations, profiteering and capitation fees. NEET would emphasize merit as the only criterion for the selection of students for medical admissions. Private medical schools were permitted an approved fee structure that could be higher than public-funded medical schools. Private institutions would definitely be affected by this judgment, and would argue that it violated their right to practise any profession and that their admission procedure was fair, transparent and nonexploitative.