Medical aspirants left in the lurch

NEET results are out, but State government is yet to announce admission schedule

Medical aspirants in Tamil Nadu were clueless about the admission process even as the results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical and dental courses were released on Friday.

The State government has opposed NEET but has not yet received Presidential assent for the two Bills passed by it in the Legislative Assembly seeking exemption from common entrance test.

In NEET 2017, all States from south India, except Tamil Nadu, had at least one candidate among the top 25 ranks.

Only a handful of students from Tamil Nadu have managed to cross the magical figure of 600 marks. These included two students who studied the State Board syllabus.

Mukesh Kanna G.M. and A. Lakshnya have scored 655 and 635 marks respectively. An alumnus of SBOA Coimbatore, Mukesh’s inspiration was his uncle, who is a paediatrician and runs his own clinic in Madurai.

Focus pays off

“I appeared for the AIPMT in 2015, and then NEET in 2016. I was admitted to PSG College of Engineering but I quit engineering and concentrated for a year on NEET. I realised I had to focus on it to score well,” says Mukesh who aspires to study in the State-run Coimbatore Medical College.

His mother is a teacher in a corporation school in Coimbatore and father is a retired engineer.

Lakshnya holds All India Rank 9 in the SC category. The student of Velammal School (State Board) in Mogappair secured 1,162 marks in the Plus Two exams.

Having secured all India rank of 151 in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) and 3rd in the SC category, she says: “If I get Madras Medical College I will study there. Otherwise, I might go to Jipmer, Puducherry.”

Adhithya Pranav K., a CBSE student who has scored 648 marks in NEET, is hoping to get into Jipmer. His all India rank in NEET is 351 and he has cleared AIIMS entrance exam with an all India rank of 262.

The admission for the 15% all India quota seats will begin on July 3, but the State government has not announced its admission calendar till the time of going to the press. The State Health Department officials have not made any announcement about the probable date for issue of application forms for admission to MBBS/BDS courses.

A former medical education official said the situation was fluid. “We don’t know if the Union or State government will conduct counselling for deemed universities. Fee structure is another unresolved issue. The deemed universities had quoted Rs. 21 lakh as annual fees last year. But with self-financing colleges also coming under the ambit of NEET there is more confusion. The fee structure in these colleges is determined by a committee constituted on the directions of the Supreme Court. There is no clarity on what will happen if they go to court,” said the official working in a deemed university.