The medical and dental graduate courses aspirants in Madhya Pradesh are on tenterhooks until now with the state government failing to formalise the decision on the way the admissions will be conducted to these courses (MBBS and BDS).
The delay in this decision will have a ripple effect on the entire admission process and the academic session 2013-14 might start far later than the July 1 deadline.
Medical education minister Anup Mishra said the state is set to hold the state level pre-medical test (PMT) for the admissions, which means the state will forgo the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2013- the national level test introduced by the Medical Council of India (MCI).
The minister, however, conceded that the decision would be formalised only after further discussions with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, thus keeping the matter yet in abeyance.
As the MP government decided to go with the Pre-PG NEET (conducted in November/ December 2012) for postgraduate admissions as announced by the chief minister last month, the confusion among the aspirants has compounded.
Even if the state government decides to conduct the PMT by the end of February, the exam cannot be held before June because the MP Professional Examination Board requires a minimum of 90 days to make all the preparations for the test. If the test is held in June, then the results are likely only by the month’s end or in July and then the actual admissions will be conducted.
{{/usCountry}}Even if the state government decides to conduct the PMT by the end of February, the exam cannot be held before June because the MP Professional Examination Board requires a minimum of 90 days to make all the preparations for the test. If the test is held in June, then the results are likely only by the month’s end or in July and then the actual admissions will be conducted.
{{/usCountry}}The entire confusion began after the MCI decided to introduce the NEET for medical/ dental admissions across the country in a bid to make the process easier for the candidates who earlier had to appear for different entrance exams for admission to different categories of the medical/dental courses.
The entire process was given a go ahead by the Supreme Court (SC) of India in the year 2011.
The NEET was deferred for a year as the state governments sought more time to implement it, but even now, the MP government has failed to take a final call in this regard.
Sources say the government is under pressure in the face of arguments, mainly put up by private medical/dental college owners that not many students of the state would be able to clear the NEET - considered to be a tougher test - and, thus, most of the seats in the state’s colleges, both government and private (50% of seats) would be taken up by students from other states.
Candidates, however, feel that whatever be the decision, it should be taken early so that they are able to make suitable preparations. The NEET-2013 will be conducted on May 5 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).