New Delhi: Days after Odia and Kannada language were included in the list of language options for All-India Medical Entrance test, some parliamentarians and states are now raising a pitch for inclusion of “Urdu” into the list. While it has been decided that the Neet (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) will be conducted in 10 different languages, the new demand of inclusion of Urdu has sent the Union health ministry in a tizzy.
Both Karnataka and Orissa government had earlier picked up the issue and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention for inclusion of their language in conducting Neet other than the pre-decided languages like Gujarati, Bengali, Assam-ese, Tamil Marathi and Telugu, Hindi and English.
While the health ministry decided to include both Odia and Kannada after the CBSE gave its nod recently, the new demand for including Urdu has erupted.
Citing that the students who had studied in “Urdu” would be at a disadvantage if the exam is not conducted in their language, some states and MPs have written to the health ministry on the issue for including Urdu among one of the language options. However, the health ministry which is expected to notify the exam soon, is in no mood to entertain the new demand.
Calling it an “unreasonable” demand, a senior health ministry official said, “There will be no end to demands and requests if we keep entertaining and including languages one after another. This is impractical and unreasonable.”
The ministry has a valid reason to substantiate their decision. Earlier in 2013, Maharashtra had conducted the exam in urdu too and only 5,000 students appeared. “Many of them could not even pass the exam,” added the official. About 7-8 lakh aspirants appear for NEET. “Those willing to give exam in urdu would just be one per cent,” added the official. The exam is expected to be held in May this year.
Meanwhile, students, including those belonging to Students Islamic Organi sation of India (SIO) have been protesting the move, pushing the Maharashtra’s medical education minister Girish Mahajan to write to the Union health ministry.
