NEET: Tamil Nadu reserves 7.5 % quota in medical admissions for govt school students

The issue of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET) for admission into UG medical courses has taken the centre stage again

NEET: 7.5% quota approved for Tamil Nadu govt school students in medical admission! The issue of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET) for admission into UG medical courses has taken the centre stage again as the Tamil Nadu AIADMK government decided to reserve 7.5 percent seats in state medical colleges exclusively for students passing out from government-run schools. The Palaniswami cabinet was convened on Tuesday where the decision to provide “quota within quota” to students from the government run schools was approved, according to a PTI report. The decision to reserve seats for government school students will also be applicable on medical seats which belong to the state in all the private colleges across the state.

The NEET exam is conducted every year by the National Testing Agency (NTA), an organisation under the Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry. After qualifying in the exams, students are enrolled into MBBS and BDS programmes across the country. Before the NEET exam was devised, different states and private colleges across the country used to follow their own admission and selection procedure. The exam is usually conducted between the month of June and July alongside its engineering counterpart IIT-JEE exam which is conducted for students admission into the engineering institutions across the country. However, this year due to the onset of Coronavirus and subsequent imposition of nationwide lockdown, the exam could not be conducted. According to the new calendar announced by the government, the NEET exam is scheduled to be conducted on September 13, 2020. However, with the resurgence of Coronavirus cases across the country, the date is understood to be tentative only.After the completion of the entrance test, a merit list will be released and top scorers across the country will be enrolled in the MBBS/BDS courses.

Apart from providing for reservation to government school students on Tuesday, the state cabinet also granted immediate approval to six companies which have proposed to invest more than Rs 5000 crore in the state. The Cabinet meeting was convened at the state Secretariat headed by Chief Minister Edappady K Palaniswami.