Proposed: NMC to conduct NEET UG exam

New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC), the apex medical regulator of the medical field, may soon itself take the charge of conducting the 'National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test" (NEET, NEET UG), the gateway to various graduate medical courses in India, including MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BHMS, BSc Nursing courses.

A Proposal to this effect has been put forward National Medical Commission as it released the draft of the National Medical Commission (Graduate Medical Education) Regulations of Undergraduate Medical Education Board, 2023 in the public domain for comments. 

The draft regulations lay the down the new governance structure of Undergraduate Medical Education, that is the MBBS course and cover various aspects of the same ranging from the conduct of the NEET exam and its counselling, the rules related to syllabus, the aspects of admission, counselling and migration, the minimum standards of medical education, faculty development, etc

On the issue of conduct of the NEET UG exam, the proposed draft states:

Conduct of NEET-UG - Either the National Medical Commission may conduct the NEET-UG or may designate any such agency or authority by whatever name called, to cause the NEET-UG to be conducted.

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Provided National Medical commission may designate multiple agencies or authorities, to conduct NEET-uG if such deployment suits the purpose

This also leaves the possibility of even multiple agencies conducting the exam. The draft guidelines note that passing NEET will be the eligibility requirement for entrance to graduate medical education in India but also abroad (elsewhere).

The draft further sets the eligibility criteria of NEET as 10 +2 with subjects of physics, chemistry, Biology/ Biotechnology and English that the candidate has passed in the last two years of his education setting the tie-breaker as the respective marks obtained in Biology followed by Chemistry and further followed by Physics in the NEET-UG shall be considered. provided if the tie were to continue, then draw of lots by using the computer or IT with no human intervention, the eligible candidates shall be selected, the guidelines further add.

Besides there, the Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the NMC shall determine the language, manner and modalities etc., of conducting the NEET-UG by way of Notification. Provided that, the Under Graduate Medical Education Board shall notify with reasonable lead time when it decides to change its policies with regard to the conduct of NEET-UG so that aspiring students are not put to a detriment

On the issue of Counselling, the draft calls for common counselling based on the merit list for all medical institutions which shall be conducted based on guidelines provided by the UGMEB. It adds:

' Government to appoint a designated authority for common counselling - The Central Government or its designated authority shall be the counselling agency for all lndia quota seats of the contributing States, and the counselling for all admission to graduate courses in medicine in all medical educational institutions in the State / Union territory shall be the concerned State Government or the Administration of the Union territory or their respective designated authority as the case may be.

The draft has been put in the public domain on 27th February 2023 and comments are invited on the draft regulations at the following email lD- comments.ugregulations@nmc.orq.in in MS Word (.docx) format or machine-readable PDF Format within 30 days of publication of this notice with a subject tagline "Comments on draft regulations regarding National Medical Commission (Graduate Medical Education) Regulations of Undergraduate Medical Education Board, 2023".

Currently, NEET UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency which also conducts other exams such as JEE, NET etc.