Ordinance on Neet: Ambiguity still looms over private CETS

VIJAYAWADA: Utter ambiguity continues to prevail over medical admissions through the private common entrance tests (CETs) conducted by private medical colleges and deemed universities even after issue of an ordinance by the Centre on applicability of Neet (National eligibility cum entrance test) guidelines in medical admissions.According to a source from the AP Private Medical Colleges Managements Associations, the managements of private medical colleges seek to interpret the ordinance in their own favour as its contents were not yet made public. “The Supreme Court has delivered a judgement directing the government to take up medical admissions only through the Neet from this academic year while prohibiting private colleges from the purview of admissions through their own CETS. Now the government issued an ordinance to keep the SC judgement in abeyance for a year which also obviously means permitting the private medical colleges to go ahead with their CETS for this year”, the source maintained while refusing to reveal his identity. “We are waiting for the ordinance to come out to go ahead with our own CETs”, he added.Medical Council of India (MCI) former member Dr. C.L. Venkata Rao however defers with the perception of private medical colleges towards the spirit of the ordinance. The ordinance seeks to allow only the government CETs at the state level to prevail and that admissions in both private and government medical colleges shall take place only basing on the ranks which emerged from those tests, he contended. Venkata Rao welcomed the ordinance saying it was not a loss to anyone.Citing admission of a petition in the Supreme Court against the ordinance, Venkata Rao urged the government to initiate the process of counselling as a prelude to admissions immediately so as to ensure conduct of classes from August first week. Delay in the process only meant inviting further litigations, stalling the academic calendar, he observed. The petition was said to have accused the government of issuing the ordinance under the influence of all-powerful private medical colleges and deemed universities.Dr. Gangadhar, a city-based medical practitioner and an activist, urged the government to come out with more clarity, steering clearing of ambiguity over the scope and limitations of the ordinance. He highlighted the need to let the Supreme Court’s directions prevail over the prohibition of private CETs which lacked transparency. He also proposed to fill the B-category seats in private medical colleges only through the government CET and make available medical education to middle class sections also. When the government has allowed private medical colleges to collect Rs 11.50 lakh per year as fee from students under b-category seats, a good number of students with socially and economically backward backgrounds could not take to medicine and the seats falling vacant because of this reason were being sold for a price ranging from Rs 1.5 to Rs 2cr by private colleges, he alleged. “It gives me a great relief”, reacts Ch. Mehar Shruti, a student from Gannavaram in Krishna district who cleared the EAMCET on issue of the ordinance. She got 130 out of 160 marks in the screening test and is expecting a seat in a descent college. “Thank god, the government opened its eyes and issue the ordinance in the last minute at self. Otherwise, my career would have been in peril”, she said.