NEET centralised, but admission limited to students from state

MIUMBAI: The confusion over admissions based on National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to medical and dental colleges is far from over. While students from

MIUMBAI: The confusion over admissions based on National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to medical and dental colleges is far from over. While students from outside Maharashtra are not able to apply to private colleges as state government is giving preference to students from the state owing to a confusing set of rules, deemed institutes are open to candidates from across the country.

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“Even though the eligibility rules as per the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) say that for 2016, students from outside Maharashtra will also be eligible for admissions, the very next line says that a candidate should be a domicile of Maharashtra, which is contradictory,” said Ankit Dhankar, a resident of Delhi. The applications for admission are open from August 21 and 24.

The medical aspirant said for the past two days he has been trying to apply for admission to private institutes in Maharashtra, but hasn’t managed to do so. “When we click on ‘outside Maharashtra’ box while filling the online admission form, we don’t get to submit the form at all,” he added.

There are 10 deemed institutes in the state and almost all started accepting admission forms almost immediately after results for NEET were announced on August 17. While admission to 1,675 seats in deemed institutes are open to students from across the country, the 1,720 seats in private institutes are the ones students from outside Maharashtra are not able to apply for.

“Private medical colleges in the state are very well known and always attract students from across the country. Also, these institutes charge less fee compared to deemed institutes but the state has decided to not give us the option at all,” said Abhishek Sharma, a student from Haryana, while adding that Haryana government as well as Delhi government have made no such exclusive rule for private medical institutes in their states. “This rule by Maharashtra government beats the purpose of conducting an all India entrance test and it is now very late to complain against this rule as Wednesday is the last date to submit application forms,” added Sharma.

When HT contacted the director of DMER, the official made it very clear that first preference is being given to students from Maharashtra. “Seats in deemed institutes are open to students from across the country, only private institutes’ seats are exclusively for students who are domicile of the state. There’s nothing wrong with this as we want to give some advantage to our students,” said Dr Pravin Shingare, director of DMER.