NEW DELHI : The Central Information Commission has directed the Medical Council of India (MCI) to post on its web site the assessment reports of medical colleges inspected by it as part of its obligations under the suo motu disclosure clause of the Right to Information Act, reports PTI.

Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi also directed the MCI to make public whether the application of a medical college for recognition has been approved or rejected by placing the details on its web site.

Acting on a complaint that the MCI is not fulfiling its statutory obligations under section four of the RTI Act which mandates suo motu disclosure by public authorities, Gandhi directed it to place these two details on its web site.

During the hearing, the MCI cited the problem of displaying the assessment report in its entirety since it could comprise thousands of pages. “After discussions it appears that the Assessment Report which captures essential data would suffice. In view of this, it was agreed that the Public Authority would display the assessment report and whether the application has been approved or rejected by 30 July of each year where applicable,” Gandhi pointed out.

He said in some cases, if an extension has been obtained from the central government for the approval, the information would be displayed within one month of the end of the extension period.

“This would reduce the load of RTI applications being filed with each institution as information would be freely available to citizens and they would not have to apply for it,” he said while asking the MCI to comply with the directions by March 10 next year.

Under pressure, CBSE shelves NEET to 2013-14

From Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI : Succumbing to intense pressure from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has postponed the proposed National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to 2013-14.

A CBSE release said on December 12 that "as per communication received from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India" the CBSE has decided to postpone the "introducation of NEET" to academic year 2013-14".

The release said that the CBSE would now conduct the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Examination only for the 15 per cent of all-India quota seats.

Explaining the cause of postponement, the CBSE release said that as several states had sought exemption from the common entrance test for under graduate medical courses, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) decided to postpone the proposed NEET by a year.

According to the new CBSE schedule, the All-India Pre-Medical/Dental Preliminary Examination would be held on April 1, 2012 and the final examination on May 13 -- the day NEET 2012 was to be held.

The eligibility conditions, centres, syllabus, pattern, and related things will remain the same as those of the AIPMT 2011 examination.

The schedule for the submission of application forms would be shortly communicated, the release said.

Health Ministry moves SC for NEET postponement

From Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI : On December 8 the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare moved the Supreme Court to block the proposed National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for MBBS and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) scheduled on May 13 next year.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) and the CBSE are gearing up to hold the NEET on May 13, 2012 and have posted the final syllabus for the NEET, but the Health Ministry wants it to be shelved for a year --- to academic session 2013-14 .

The conduct of undergraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG-NEET) is a Herculean task which requires great deal of preparation and for paucity of time it is practically impossible to resolve the issues raised by various state governments and hold the test in 2012, the Health Ministry pleaded before the apex court.

The ministry cited the objections raised by states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, who are willing to conduct the national test from 2013-14. It pointed out than Andhra Pradesh is seeking an exemption of two years, Kerala is demanding its reservation policies to be kept intact, Assam is disputing the criteria for minimum marks, West Bengal is insisting on inclusion of Bengali language as a medium for conduct of the said examination and Puducherry is wanting an exemption from the test itself.

Citing various reasons for states not preferring NEET 2012, the Health Ministry said, “The government of India is of the strong view that instead of hurriedly implementing NEET from academic year 2012, it would be in the fitness of things if the same is introduced in a more planned manner from the academic year 2013-14 onwards."

Interestingly, the application has come at a time when the CBSE has moved the apex court seeking permission for holding NEET as per a schedule fixed in consultation with all concerned stakeholders, including the Health Ministry.

The CBSE application said, “All the stakeholders viz CBSE, Medical Council of India and Director General of Health Services have accorded consent for conduct of UG-NEET in the manner indicated above (as per schedule).”

The schedule laid down the last date for receipt of application forms as January 16, 2012, dispatch of admit cards by April 12 and declaration of result latest by last week of June. This schedule, according to CBSE, was taken at a meeting held on July 18, 2011 under the chairmanship of Union Health Secretary. It was this meeting that decided to assign CBSE the task to conduct the first ever national level entrance examination.

Oblivious to the difference of views brewing between the Health Ministry and CBSE, the Supreme Court bench of Justices HL Dattu and CK Prasad had on December 7 adjourned the hearing of the case to January 2012, when both the applications will be taken up for hearing.

Earlier the Health Ministry sources had told Academics India on December 6 that the Ministry would soon submit an affidavit in the apex court to seek postponement of the NEET, citing objections from states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu which have most of medical colleges in the country.

They are not against the NEET per se, but they want that the test be conducted from academic session 2013-2014 after framing a common curriculum for Physics, Biology and Chemistry for standards XI and XII, the officials noted.

In case the Supreme Court considers the Ministry’s request, this will be the second time that the NEET will be deferred.

The MCI, following the apex court order, has been preparing for the common medical entrance test since 2011. But it was postponed to 2012 as the Council wanted to give enough time to the students to prepare for the exam.

But while the MCI has been keen to introduce the new system claiming that it would cut down multiplicity of examination, the Health Ministry has been
dilly-dallying the matter citing various reasons, opposition from the States being the major one.

The Ministry’s disinterest in NEET is no secret. It is yet to notify the revised syllabus and the examination system prepared by MCI for medical under
graduates. Irked at the delay, the CBSE too had recently shot off a letter to the Ministry to notify the examination system so that it could smoothly ensure all logistics in place for the D-day.

Over eight lakh students take the MBBS examinations for over 330 medical colleges across the country.

It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had, on March 7, ordered the Central government to hold a single eligibility-cum-entrance examination for MBBS and post-graduate medical courses in the country from this academic session.

Passing the order a bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik said that the admission test will be applicable country-wide, including private medical colleges, except the state of Tamil Nadu where Madras High Court has granted injunction against the common admission test.

The MCI has, therefore, decided to hold the NEET from the year 2012.

SC tells MCI to hold entry test for UG, PG coursee

From Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI : On March 7, 2011 the Supreme Court ordered the Central government to hold a single eligibility-cum-entrance examination for MBBS and post-graduate medical courses in the country from this academic session.

Passing the order a bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik said that the admission test will be applicable country-wide, including private medical colleges, except the state of Tamil Nadu where Madras High Court has granted injunction against the common admission test.

The Madras High Court has stayed the applicability of the MCI’s December 27, 2010 notification on the ground that the state has its own law on the subject and that the legislation has been approved by the President.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) had, last October, sought the apex court's permission to hold a single common entrance test for graduate and post-graduate medical courses, including those for the private and minority medical colleges.

The bench said that since the MCI, the apex regulator for medical education and training has already issued two notifications for “single entrance” test for graduate (MBBS) and post-graduate (MD/MS) admissions respectively, it was open to the MCI to enforce its orders.

"The pendency of the notifications will not come in the way of putting in place the system of single entrance test as government counsel earlier had submitted that the Centre had given its approval to the scheme," the court ruled.

The apex court rejected the plea of counsel for several medical institutions, especially those from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh that even the governments of these states had reservation on the “single test” scheme. The bench said so far nobody had challenged the MCI notifications before the court.

After rejecting their plea, the bench in a formal order directed the Centre to notify an organisation for conducting the “single test”.

The Supreme Court, while noting that that Solicitor-General, Mr Gopal Subramaniam, on February 18 had made a statement that the Health Ministry has not “granted its approval” for the test, the bench said : “We fail to understand why they (MCI) need government approval.” “Nothing more is required to be done by the MCI after it has issued the two notifications as everyone has to follow it,” the apex court said, clarifying that the MCI, as the apex regulator for medical education, is competent to act independent of the government on the issue.

Refusing to grant any relief to the CBSE counsel Altaf Ahmed who said that the board has been named as a body for conducting the test for MBBS admissions, the bench said, “You can give your proposal to the government but we will not pass any order.”

The Centre had on December 27 last year, notified that there would be a combined entrance test for MBBS and PG courses.

Although the court had, in an interim order on December 18 last year, allowed the MCI to go ahead with the CET, it had decided to hear the various stakeholders. The state governments, private medical colleges and those run by the minorities were invited to discuss their objections and grievances.

Senior advocate Amrender Sharan and Somesh Jha, appearing for the MCI, pointed out that the Centre had on August 13, last year, taken the stand that the MCI can go ahead with the implementation of the single common entrance criteria and in December the regulations were notified. “It is (now) binding on all the colleges. It is the students who are suffering,” they
said.

The MCI proposal said, “To be eligible for admission to MBBS course for an academic year, it shall be necessary for a candidate to obtain a minimum of  50 per cent marks in each paper of the test held for the said academic year. But for those belonging to SC, ST and OBC, the minimum percentage shall be 40 per cent in each paper, and for candidates with locomotory disability of lower limbs, it will be 45%.” There will be a single entrance exam each for MBBS and MD courses offered by all 271 medical colleges.

MCI follows BCI, plans a pre-practise exam

From Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI: Taking cue from the Bar Council of India, the Medical Council of India (MCI) intends to introduce an all-India common exit test for graduate doctors. The test will entitle medical graduates to practise medicine and enter the world of medical care.

Presenting the MCI case in the Supreme Court on September 17 Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam told a Bench of Justice R V Raveendran and Justice H L Gokhale that the exit test is under active consideration of the Health Ministry.

Considering the varying standards of medical education in the country the MCI has proposed a common exit examination for MBBS pass-outs intending to become doctors and treat patients, Subramaniam told the Bench.

The first All India Bar Examination, it may be recalled, is to be held on December 5 this year.

The bench was reluctant to entertain Subramaniam and MCI counsel Amarendra Saranthe's plea on single window admission test for post-graduate medical course and refused to pass any order without hearing the opinion of the states.

“How can we pass any direction when there is neither notification nor the regulations before us? The state governments are required to be served with notices and they have to be heard,” said the judges.

The Bench said: "We do not know which all states will object to this and how the students, a volatile community, would react to this proposal. So, let the Centre put before us the proposal and we will seek the response of the state governments."

Tamil Nadu government, it may be recalled, has opposed the decision to have a common entrance test for the PG admission in all the medical colleges in the country following which the Union government has filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking approval to introduce the entrance tests.

Expressing their concern, the judges said a cautious approach has to be taken on the issue as students are a “volatile” community and there are chances that “you (Centre) may land in some other problem”.