Mar 25 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)

Health min meets Union ministers over NEET





While Tamil Nadu could not impress upon the Centre to exempt itself from a national-level common entrance test for admissions to postgraduate medicaldental seats, state health minister C Vijaya Baskar said he was hopeful of getting at least an interim relief from the common test for MBBS.

On Friday , Vijaya Baskar and a team of officials met Union health minister J P Nadda and Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi to urge them to recommend the two bills passed by the state legislative assembly exempting itself from NEET, for presidential assent. “ We clearly told them that we will conduct counselling based on NEET for management quota seats in selffinancing colleges and all seats in deemed universities.We wanted exemption only for government colleges and state quota seats in self-financing colleges. He did not yet assure us of anything, but said the Centre will consider,“ he said. The Union law minister had told Vijaya Baskar that he would wait for a recommendation from the health ministry before assessing the legal provision for exemption.

The Tamil Nadu directorate of medical education, he said, will soon call for applications to more than 2,000 postgraduate medical and dental seats for admission through counselling based on NEET scores.