NEET UG: What ahead for Kerala students

Out of a total of 1,08,907 students who appeared for NEET UG 2018 from Kerala, 72682 (66.74%), have become eligible for admission to MBBS/BDS courses. These students have scored the NEET cut-off scores of 119 for unreserved (UR) category, 107 for UR-PH (physically challenged) category and 96 for SC/ST/OBC category (out of a maximum of 720 marks), which are the 50th, 45th and 40th percentile scores respectively to be eligible to qualify for MBBS/BDS admissions.

However, no student from Kerala, has figured in the top 50 ranks in NEET UG 2018. The first rank has been bagged by a girl student from Bihar who scored 691 marks out of 720.  The Kerala state rank list for MBBS/BDS admissions will now be prepared by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE), Kerala, based on the NEET UG 2018 marks/ranks of students who have also applied to the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations as per the notifications issued by the CEE earlier this year.

The CEE will issue notifications relating to the procedure for preparation of the MBBS/BDS rank lists in the coming days and the students should ensure that they comply with the requirements in the notification without fail to figure in the rank list. However, the number of students who will figure in the Medical Allied Rank list, Kerala, also to be prepared by CEE, for admission to the courses other than MBBS/BDS will be more than 72682, since there is a different criterion for inclusion in this rank list, although the NEET mark is the criterion.

A student who gets 20 marks out of 720 in NEET UG 2018 (no such condition for SC/ST applicants) would be eligible to figure in the allied rank list in Kerala, which will be the basis for admission to BHMS/BSMS/BUMS/B.VSc& AH, BSc Agriculture, BSc Forestry and Bachelor of Fisheries Science Courses in Kerala. For BAMS there will be another rank list with students who have studied Sanskrit at Plus Two level getting a weightage of 8 marks added to their NEET score, as per the prospectus conditions. The allotment process in Kerala would commence only after the preparation of these ranks.

(The author is former joint commissioner of entrance examinations, Kerala).