Mar 17 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)

MCI removes limit on attempts, age in NEET

Pushpa Narayan

Chennai:





There will be no limit on the number of attempts for a candidate in the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test or the age at which heshe can appear, the Medical Council of India has said.In 2016, the Supreme Court mandated a uniform entrance test for medical admission -to be conducted by the Central Board of School Education for undergraduate courses and by the National Board of Examinations for postgraduate courses. State-run institutions were last year exempted from the test which has been made mandatory for 2017.
An earlier NEET bulletin from the CBSE had said a candidate can appear only thrice for the test and those who had completed three attempts would not be eligible for 2017 test.
In February , it clarified that attempts made for AIPMTNEET before 2017 would not be counted and NEET-2017 would be the first attempt for all.
The upper age limit of the candidates appearing for NEET (UG) was fixed at 25 years on the date of conduct of examination. A five year relaxation was given to reserved category candidates.
On Thursday , based on recommendations from the oversight committee and the Union health ministry , the MCI said both limitations were being deleted.
“The oversight committee felt such limitations will reduce the number of doctors in the country . The Union health ministry agreed and suggested the recommendation to us. We have passed it,“ said MCI vicepresident Dr CV Bhirmanandham.
“We give everyone the opportunity to clear the test.Students who don't make it this year either because they haven't prepared for the test or because they haven't applied for the test on time can always try later. It gives even undergraduate students of BSc an opportunity .“