By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Jammu: The Supreme Court order of holding National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), a combined entrance test for admission to undergraduate medicine and dental courses has sent jitters across the aspiring medical students of J&K. The students were due to appear in the state-level entrance test for admission in state and private-run medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir.
The green signal given by Apex Court on Thursday, April 28 imply that all government colleges, deemed universities and private medical colleges across India including Jammu and Kashmir would be covered under the NEET and thereby examinations, which have already taken place or slated to be conducted separately, stand scrapped.
The PDP-BJP led State government has already made its stand clear that they will resist the move of implementing the apex Court order in J&K.
The state government on Monday filed a review petition in Supreme Court seeking exemption from National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) under the guise of Article 370.
The apex court bench headed by the Chief Justice P.S. Thakur accepted to hear the petition and scheduled it for Tuesday.
In J&K, the entrance test for MBBS and BDS courses are held under Jammu and Kashmir Common Entrance Test (JKCET) by Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE), but the latest ruling by SC has put the idea of holding a separate entrance examination to rest.
The students, who have been preparing for JKCET till Friday, are in shock over the apex court ruling and are demanding its rollback.
“This ruling has shocked me. I was preparing for JKCET and was mentally prepared for state level competition but not for national level competition. This decision can jeopardize our career,” Rameez Zafar, a medicine aspirant from Doda district told TwoCircles.net.
For Aftab Hamid also from Doda, who is coaching for state level medical entrance test, terms the move unjust for students who have studied from state boards.
“The syllabus for state-level medical entrance follows the syllabus taught in schools affiliated to JK state board but in national-level entrance exams, syllabus is according to the CBSE pattern which is highly competitive and tougher. The court should give careful consideration to the aspiration of students who have studied from state board.”
For 2016, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) will be held in two phases throughout India. On Sunday, May 1, over six lakh students sat for the first part of the common entrance exam whereas onwards 2017, it will be held in single phase.
Most of the students were/are not aware of the Supreme Court ruling for conducting a common entrance exam.
Adding more confusion, after the scrapping of state level medical entrance exams, the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT)/NEET website has issued a fresh advisory on its website that the candidates who have applied for AIPMT/NEET Phase–I will not be allowed to appear in NEET Phase –II to be held on July, 24.
The move has affected the students who usually appear in both national and state level medical entrance examination, taking former as a mock test to check their level of preparation for the latter.
“I appeared in AIPMT entrance exam, so as to check my preparation level for JKCET exam which is scheduled to be held in this month. But now after the court ruling and subsequent scrapping of state level entrance exams, I can’t appear in phase-2 because I have already appeared in Phase-I. Now my whole year stands ruined, as I have to appear again next year,” Syed Asif, who is doing medical coaching in Srinagar’s Parraypora told TwoCircles.net.
Commissioner Law and Parliamentary Affairs, J&K, M Ashraf was quoted as saying by a local newspaper, that this is for the first time that the apex court has directed that the test should not have any exemptions.
“In all earlier orders J&K, Andhra Pradesh, private medical colleges and all minority colleges were exempted from the all-India test. We are covered by Article 370 that gives us rights to retain lot many things and it was on this basis that earlier similar orders did not touch us,” he said.
Importantly, the move was mooted by Supreme Court, so as to avoid multiple entrance tests and minimise corruption and irregularities in admissions to medical courses.
The Medical Council of India (MCI) and Indian Medical Association (IMA) welcomed the apex court’s decision, whereas various states, including the association of private medical colleges are aggrieved by the top court’s order and have filed review petitions.