Ministry nod for medical common entrance test

Thiruvananthapuram: Union health ministry has given the go-ahead for the Medical Council of India (MCI) to have a common entrance test (CET) for undergraduate and postgraduate courses by amending the MCI Act.

The MCI had proposed an amendment to Section 33 of the Act to ensure that they have the authority to conduct the common test. This was to ensure that the MCI had the power to govern the entrance process throughout the country.

Section 33 of the Act deals with the conduct of professional exams, qualifications of examiners and the conditions of admissions to such exams.

The section should be amended to make MCI the only agency with the power to conduct the entrance exams. The contention of the MCI was that the common entrance examinations would end many malpractices including capitation fee as the managements would have to admit students from a common pool.

Commissioner for Entrance Examinations B. S. Maoji told DC that they have not received any intimation on CET so far. “Even if there was one, it’s for the state government to make their view clear on the issue,” Mr Maoji said.

Kochi-based neurologist Dr N. K. Sanilkumar, an observor of the entrance exam process, said the reason for the NEET to fail before the court was the absence of a comprehensive law governing it.

“If the proposed CET has to get legal sanctity, a Bill to amend the MCI Act has to be brought,” he said.