NEET chaos to impact state engg, pharmacy admissions

Admission to these professional courses are impacted as NEET scores are considered along with the results of the common entrance test (CET) for these streams. On Wednesday, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil said, “The admission process for these courses cannot move forward until the revised NEET examination is conducted and results are declared.”

MUMBAI: The chaos due to the NEET paper leak is having a cascading effect on admissions to other professional courses in Maharashtra, specifically engineering, pharmacy and agriculture, causing uncertainty for more than 400,000 students.

NEET chaos to impact state engg, pharmacy admissions

Admission to these professional courses are impacted as NEET scores are considered along with the results of the common entrance test (CET) for these streams. On Wednesday, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil said, “The admission process for these courses cannot move forward until the revised NEET examination is conducted and results are declared.”

The state education department conducted two separate CET examinations – for PCM and PCB students. Patil said the department aimed to announce the CET results with only a slight delay. However, the NEET controversy has disrupted the plan.

This year’s NEET – the national-level entrance exam for admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses – was cancelled on May 12 after a leaked question paper brought large-scale irregularities to light. However, its impact is being felt beyond medical admissions.

In Maharashtra, NEET scores are taken into account for admission to nine engineering branches under B Tech courses. These include agricultural engineering, biotechnology, food engineering, leather technology, packaging technology, pharmaceutical engineering, printing engineering, fashion technology and textile chemistry. Students seeking admission to these branches are selected based on both CET and NEET scores.

Pharmacy admissions too will be delayed. Around 15% seats in pharmacy colleges are reserved under the all-India quota, and these seats are filled through NEET scores. Admission of almost all undergraduate agriculture courses, including BSc in agriculture, horticulture and seven other courses are based on NEET scores.

Officials with the state education department said the CET Cell had planned to start CAP rounds by the end of June. Last year, the PCM CET results were declared on June 15. This year too, despite conducting two separate CET examinations, the department was to announce the second CET result by June 20 so that the academic year could begin on schedule.

However, the NEET re-examination will be held on June 21 an, officials say, the results may not be available before mid-July.

The delay has also created difficulties for engineering admissions as many students who take the NEET test keep engineering as an alternative option if their NEET scores are lower than expected.