Karnataka Govt to Provide Special NEET Coaching for Rural Students

This announcement was made on Monday in the Council by Dr Sharanprakash R Patil, Karnataka's Minister for Medical Education, Skill Development, and Livelihood.

According to the TNIE Media news report, during the Question Hour, Congress MLC Ivan D'Souza expressed concern that the NEET system is depriving rural students of medical education. He also raised the question of whether poor students from rural areas could afford coaching expenses with the mere ₹3 lakh provided.

In response to Ivan, Patil clarified that the NEET system has not resulted in any shortage of seats in the state, nor has the number of seats decreased. He explained that although they had decided to abolish the NEET system, the Supreme Court ruled in its favour. Therefore, the government will take various measures to provide more effective coaching for the NEET examination to rural students.

Medical Dialogues had recently reported that clarifying rules on private practice, the Karnataka government has strictly prohibited government doctors from treating inpatients in private hospitals, citing concerns that it could disrupt services in government hospitals.

The government said that treating inpatients at private hospitals can interfere with doctors’ regular government duties. Therefore, government doctors are not allowed to admit or treat inpatients or proposed inpatients in private hospitals under any circumstances.

However, the order allows government doctors to continue private practice only for out-patient (OPD) cases. Such OPD practice must be done outside official duty hours and should not affect their government responsibilities. Doctors can provide OPD services only at one declared private clinic or hospital, the details of which must be officially informed to the government.