Directorate of Information & Publicity
Government of NCT of Delhi

Directorate of Information & Publicity
Government of NCT of Delhi
***

New Delhi: 16/05/2016

• Health Minister of Delhi, Mr Satyendar Jain has issued the following statement on the issue of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical courses across the country :

The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi welcomes and strongly supports the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court that the admission for undergraduate medical/ dental courses across the country would be purely on the basis of the NEET from this academic session itself.

Delhi Government requests the Government of India to immediately implement the orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court to conduct the NEET for admission to the medical and dental colleges of the country with immediate effect, so as to put an immediate end to widespread malpractices allegedly involved in the admission process of medical institutes in various parts of the country.

Delhi Government views the judgment of the hon’ble Supreme Court as a major reform to improve medical education in the country.

Last week, the apex court had also turned down a batch of appeals by states seeking to conduct their own medical admission tests, and had ruled that only NEET would enable students to get admission to MBBS/BDS.

Hon’ble Union Minister of Health Shri J.P. Nadda had convened a meeting of state health ministers today (16.05.2016) to discuss the issue. Health Ministers of many states have not opposed the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in toto, but some of them expressed strong reservations that NEET should not be conducted and the states should be allowed to conduct their own admission tests.

There is now a reasonable apprehension that the hon’ble Supreme Court judgement could circumvented by way of an ordinance to do away with NEET for this academic year to begin with.

In the meeting of Health Ministers, Delhi Government has strongly opposed any dilution of the Supreme Court judgement on the NEET issue and demanded that it should be implemented immediately.

Delhi Government agrees with the view that medical education in the country is allegedly a Rs 20,000 crore industry marked with capitation fee and widespread corruption. Currently the scenario is grim with businessmen and politicians without any medical background owning and managing private medical colleges in a system endemic with huge corruption, denying genuine meritorious students lacking financial resources an opportunity to pursue medical education.

*****