After receiving support from most of the states, the Medical Council of India (MCI) on Monday finally decided to start common entrance test (CET) for undergraduate and post-graduates medical students from next year.
Sources in the MCI disclosed that barring some states, like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Bengal, all other states gave its approval for the CET from 2012. While the exam for undergraduate course will be conducted by the CBSE, discussions are on with the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for conducting post-graduate exam for medical students.
Officials say that issues concerning those states opposing the proposal will be sorted out soon. “States like Gujarat and Bengal had issues with the language of the paper as we had originally planned to start the exam in English and Hindi only. But this issue can be taken care of and we will soon get in touch with the CBSE on this point,” said a senior official in the ministry.
According to Dr Purushottam Lal, one of the board members of the MCI, “Queries related to the reservation policy and seats for private colleges were answered well during the discussion today. The states have been conducting the exam in their regional languages. So they were concerned, but these are petty things and will be sorted out.”
Tamil Nadu, which has been opposing the idea ever since it was mooted last year, still opposed it. The state has most of the private medical colleges. Earlier, former chief minister K. Karunanidhi had also written to the Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that he was “astonished” by the notification. The Tamil Nadu government later got it stayed from the Madras high court. Dr Lal, however, said that things are different now. “We are going by the orders of the court, so all the states must have to come to a consensus,” added Dr Lal.