Wrap-up: Clean & Neet move

Brushing aside objections from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana state, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and several private associations of medical colleges, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the holding of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test in two phases for admissions to medical and dental courses for 2016-2017 across the country.

In the schedule given by the Centre, the Medical Council of India and CBSE and approved by a three-judge bench of Justices Anil R. Dave, Shiva Kirti Singh and A.K. Goel, the All India Pre-Medical Test to be held on May 1 will be treated as Neet-1, while Neet-2 will be held on July 24, and the combined results announced on August 17.

Admissions will be completed by September 30. The examination will be held in pursuance of the notifications of December 21, 2010 by the Medical Council of India and Dental Council of India.

The bench said: “The CBSE will provide all-India rank.

“The admitting authorities will invite applications for counselling and the merit list shall be drawn based on the all-India rank. All associated with the conduct of the examination, including the Centre, state government institutions, police, etc will extend all support to the CBSE and permit security measures like the use of electronic and communication device jammers for timely and fair conduct of Neet,” the bench added.

The SC on Friday said that the entrance test for admission to MBBS and BDS courses for 2016-17 will be held as per the schedule through the single common entrance test NEET on May 1 and July 24. Accordingly, the first phase will be held on Sunday.

Our take Holding a common entrance test for the various medical streams is certainly a good idea. It will for sure save a lot of trouble and time for the aspirants. Now students will be able to concentrate more on just one examination, rather than several at the same time. However, the concern of parents and students regarding the examination schedule and it being held in phases too is justified.