Students, parents welcome SC stand on NEET ordinance

With the validity of the ordinance to be examined in the last week of June, students are now hopeful that medical admissions would be conducted by then and there would be little scope for change.

In what comes as a relief for medical aspirants, the Supreme Court Friday put to an end the uncertainty hovering over the entrance tests to be conducted by states by refusing to interfere with the Centre’s ordinance allowing states to conduct their test this year in government-aided medical and dental colleges. The decision has been welcomed by city parents and students who said the last minute confusion had made them anxious about their future.

Earlier, the SC had ordered for the implementation of NEET from the current academic year itself but the Centre had brought in an ordinance to exempt states from the single window entrance test which had again been challenged in the apex court. However, taking note of the confusion at the eleventh hour for medical aspirants and the stress it creates for them, the SC on Friday turned down a plea to stay the ordinance saying that that it would create further confusion in the minds of students.

With the validity of the ordinance to be examined in the last week of June, students are now hopeful that medical admissions would be conducted by then and there would be little scope for change.

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“By the time, the court will meet again, hopefully the admission process for state run medical colleges will already be over and we doubt if the court will then ask states to take away these seats from students and re-allot them. Hence, even if the relief is temporary, I am sure that the courts will be sympathetic towards the students as it now seems that they have started to consider the student’s point of view,” said Jyoti Gaikwad, parent of a medical aspirant.

Alok Shah, who recently cleared his HSC examinations, said another aspect the court should consider would be the “injustice” to students if they are “expected to appear for NEET II on July 24 without preparation”. “After the Centre brought the ordinance holding the state MHCET valid for MBBS, BDS admissions, those amongst us who are confident of getting a seat through it have stopped preparing for NEET II and aren’t we registering for it. If after the vacation, the SC does consider quashing the ordinance, both them and Centre will have to answer lakhs of students who would have neither registered nor prepared for NEET II. They would be responsible for our failure then,” he said.

Meanwhile, students are hopeful that just like the decision on Friday, the SC will consider the confusion and difficulty faced by students.

“First the ordinance came out and we were happy but then we heard that someone has filed an appeal and again we were on tenterhooks. This afternoon, one of my friends messaged me and we were so relieved. Never before have we followed a court proceeding so closely. But the decision on Friday has given us a lot of confidence and we are sure that we will not have to write the NEET II now,” said Pooja Mehta, another MBBS aspirant.