What did the ordinance say?
State governments have been given an option to conduct their
own entrance exam this academic year. They can also opt for the National
Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) to fill UG seats. For PG courses, exams
for which will be held in December, all admissions will compulsorily be made
only through NEET. Private medical colleges across the country will now come
under the ambit of NEET. However, in private colleges, the quota provided for
state governments can be filled up through the state list.
What did Supreme Court say?
The Supreme Court has said that the medical admissions from
2016-17 would be done only through NEET. The court refused to give any
exemption for any state or private medical institution, minority or otherwise.
The court, however, said those who had applied for Phase-I of NEET, but could
not take the test on May 1, and those who did not fare well in Phase-I, and
were willing to forgo it, could take the phase two exam, to be held on July 24.
What it means for students?
The intentions and impacts of NEET are widely different. The
Supreme Court order was based on an intention to create a level playing field
for all medical aspirants across the country. NEET was aimed at bringing
transparency in the medical education sector by creating an all-India list of
meritorious students similar to the IIT and IIM entrance exams. The move would
also restrict sale of seats intended for meritorious students.
However, immediate implementation of NEET will only create
more inequalities in states like Tamil Nadu. NEET would force students who pass
out this year to appear for an entrance exam conducted based on CBSE syllabus
in English and Hindi. Several aspirants, studying in the state board syllabus
or with Tamil as medium of instruction would have been at a disadvantage.
There are 222 private medical colleges in India.
They have a total strength of 26,835 seats, half of which
are surrendered to state governments.
The policy on
management quota seats vary state to state. In Tamil Nadu for instance, the tuition fee is fixed between ₹2.80 lakh to ₹3 lakh depending on the infra facilities.
Guesstimates are that in affluent states cost of a medical
seat ranges between ₹60 lakhs and ₹1 crore.
In more backward states, the price is lower, around ₹30-50
lakh per seat.
15 per cent of the seats are earmarked for NRIs in private
colleges. That is over 2,000 seats at the most conservative estimate. These
seats come at a much higher rate.
So, around 11,405 private college seats are sold at an
average ₹70 lakh per student totalling to ₹7,983 crore.
If an NRI student pays around a crore for the 15 per cent
seats the total would be something around ₹2,012 crore.
In addition to this, there are 24,196 PG seats, of which,
nearly 10,000 are in the private sector. These seats are less in number and
hence more in demand. Starting from ₹1 crore, the price goes up depending on
the college and specialisation.
At an average ₹1 crore per PG seat, this category alone
would conservatively fetch anything around ₹ 10,000 crore.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
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