CHENNAI: The AK Rajan Committee, formed by the state government to study the impact of NEET on students, in its report which was made public on Monday has cited several reasons as to why the examination is not ideal for the state. Among many reasons, the committee highlighted that if NEET is not banned, healthcare system in the state will be in a bad shape due to shortage of doctors in rural areas.
The committee has also claimed that NEET has promoted coaching culture and after implementation of NEET, at least 400 coaching centres have mushroomed in Tamil Nadu with a total business of approximately Rs 5,750 crore.
The committee said in the past four years, there has been an average decline of 11.2% share of MBBS admission among first generation learners, rural students, Tamil medium students and lower income group students. Also, the figures hold significance for a state where 52% (as per 2011 census) of population has been identified as rural.
The committee said, “If the diverse representation of different disadvantageous segments, in MBBS admission declines, over a period of time, then the public healthcare system will get a jolt due to a shortage of heathcare manpower, especially in rural areas.” The analysis reflects that in post-NEET period at several medical colleges, number of students from affluent sections of the society is increasing and the trend is worrisome. These graduating doctors prefer working at urban and corporate hospitals, instead of rural public healthcare centres.
“The health system that has been ensuring equitable distribution of health-related resources including qualified doctors across the state is expected to struggle due to decline in doctor’s population willing to work in rural areas,” the committee said.
On the basis of information collected from school education department and DME, the committee found that after implementation of NEET (from 2017 to 2021) there has been an average 9.74% fall in the number of first generation graduates taking up MBBS in the state. Similarly, the number of rural candidates and students with parental income less than Rs 2.5 lakh has decreased by 12.1% and 10.45% respectively. While there has been a fall of 12.58% for Tamil medium students.
Apart from this, the percentage of Super Specialty seats shared between TN doctors and other state has also been consistently declining. The committee studied the fee structures of the major coaching centres in Tamil Nadu for various coaching periods (short and long).
Factoring in the number of candidates who have repeated, the average cost of coaching a student is Rs 95,033. By charging such amounts, a coaching centre on average makes Rs 13.95 crore annually, the report says. “This trend shows the financial muscle power of the affluent segment that succeeded in getting medical seats after the invention of NEET,” said the report.