Admission at private medical colleges to be centralised

The circular, dated August 10, has brought relief to thousands of students who are vying for the 3,395 seats in private and deemed institutes, and were worried about having to go through a separate admission process for each of the 10 deemed institutes in the state.

After months of ambiguity around medical and dental admissions to private and deemed institutes, the ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a circular stating that admissions to both private and deemed institutes will be conducted through a centralised process.

Counselling for admissions should begin by August 22 and the entire process of admissions should get over on or before September 30, read the circular. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The circular, dated August 10, has brought relief to thousands of students who are vying for the 3,395 seats in private and deemed institutes, and were worried about having to go through a separate admission process for each of the 10 deemed institutes in the state.

“The entire idea behind conducting National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) was to ensure a single window procedure to seek admission to medical and dental courses. If we had to appear for different set of examinations for admission despite NEET, then what was the purpose behind forcing lakhs of students to appear for NEET this year?” asked one student. With no mention of deemed institutes in the Supreme Court verdict, many were planning to conduct a separate admission process.

After receiving various complaints from parents and students about this rule, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) wrote to the central government, seeking clarity on the issue.

According to a circular by the health ministry, the decision to conduct a centralized admissions process was made with consultation of Ministry of Law in order to avoid any further delay in the process. It further states that counselling for admissions should begin by August 22 and the entire process of admissions should get over on or before September 30.

“Admissions on the basis of NEET itself will take anywhere between five to seven weeks and if the state government wants to finish this process before the allotted time, they need to conduct admissions under a centralised process,” said Rajesh Jain, from Parents Association of Medical Students (PAMS).

While NEET results are set to be announced on August 17, students are still clueless about the rules of admission as they have not been announced till date. These rules give students an idea about the process of admission, eligibility, fee structure of institutes, courses and institutes part of the admissions process. “The rules should be released early next week, students will have enough time to understand the process and then apply for seats, according to the allotment based on their NEET scores,” said Praveen Shingare, director of DMER.