NEET result out, overall intake less as 82 medical colleges barred

The results for the National Entrance Cum Eligibility Test (NEET) were declared on Monday, but the overall intake of students for MBBS seats will be lesser this year as the Centre has barred 82 medica
NEET result out, overall intake less as 82 medical colleges barred

NEW DELHI: The results for the National Entrance Cum Eligibility Test (NEET) were declared on Monday, but the overall intake of students for MBBS seats will be lesser this year as the Centre has barred 82 medical colleges from taking admission this academic session due to non-fulfilment of various criteria.
The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has also prevented 68 new medical colleges which had applied to begin admissions there from starting any academic activities.

Government officials said that 82 medical colleges—including 12 government and 70 private ones—have been denied permission for renewal this year as several colleges did not have sufficient number of faculty, inadequate infrastructure or insufficient patients.

The denial will impact Uttar Pradesh the most as 15 medical colleges in the state have been denied permission to continue.

“This has been done as some medical colleges had major shortcomings that simply could not be overlooked,” said a senior health ministry official. “When the Medical Council of India (MCI) visited these colleges for inspection, there were glaring shortages noticed and the reports that have been submitted are very negative.”

The move will mean that around 11,400 medical seats in these medical colleges will now not be available for admissions this year. In 2017, around 65,000 students had taken admission in government and private medical colleges across the country.

The development will only partly be offset by opening of few medical colleges—with student intake capacity of 1,550 seats—and 1,980 added seats in existing medical colleges. The permissions for new medical colleges and increased intake were granted last month.

Earlier this year, the government had approved plans to set up 24 new government-funded medical colleges by 2021-22, in addition to 58 medical colleges that were to be established and attached to district hospitals by 2019.

But the rejection of approvals for 68 new colleges,  31 of them government institutions, have raised the question how the government would find faculty for the planned new colleges, experts pointed out.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com