BENGALURU: The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare has considered the state government’s request and included Kannada as an option of medium in the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2017. This was stated in the official notification on NEET issued on Tuesday.
As per the notification, candidates need to mention the language/medium in which they want to attempt the paper while filling the application. Along with English, the other language options are Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Oriya, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.
Earlier, when the ministry announced the language options for NEET 2017, Kannada was not included. Following this, pro-Kannada activists demanded its inclusion.
Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil told Express, “We hope the students from the state will make best use of this, specially those from rural areas who studied in Kannada medium.”
CBSE issues NEET notification
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday issued a notification on NEET 2017, which will be held on May 7 for admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses. CBSE has stated that the application can be submitted online from January 31 to March 3.
This year, the upper age limit to appear for NEET is 25 years and there is a five-year relaxation for reserved candidates.