Medical education minister Vinod Tawde has revealed that the meeting of medical education ministers of various states conducted by Union health minister J.P. Nadda on Monday morning in Delhi, went off well and the ministers were unanimous in their decision to make NEET scores mandatory for admission to medical and dental colleges applicable from 2017.
Mr Tawde said that the ministers also requested Mr Nadda to get an ordinance issued to uphold the Common Entrance Test scores valid for admission for the academic year 2016. The state education minister also criticised leaders from Maharashtra who were seeking political mileage out of the NEET issue. Also, CM Devendra Fadnavis has said that he would meet PM Narendra Modi to discuss this issue and apprise him of the concerns raised by parents and students.
While speaking about the meeting of ministers, Mr Tawde while addressing the press at Maharashtra Sadan on Monday afternoon said, “After hearing the concerns of the ministers, Mr Nadda assured that the interests of students would not be compromised and due diligence would be taken to ensure that they do not suffer in anyway.”
The minister further added, “The meeting highlighted three pertinent points, which included the status of the Common Entrance Tests conducted by some states and of those that were yet to conduct it. Second is the differences between the state board syllabus and the CBSE syllabus based on which NEET would be conducted and, lastly, the possibility of NEET being conducted in regional languages. Mr Nadda sought information from all states regarding these issues so that the centre can propose a solution.”
Meanwhile, MNS chief Raj Thackeray along with parents of students met Mr Fadnavis on Monday.
He alleged that the state was not doing enough to safeguard the interests of the students. “I called up PM Modi and asked him who was running the country Was it the Central government or the Supreme Court ” said Mr Thackeray.
Mr Fadnavis assured him that he would be meeting the Prime Minister regarding the issue. “I have assured the parents that I will meet PM Modi on NEET issue and will demand a solution from the Central government,” said the chief minister.
Mr Tawde however was not amused by Mr Thackeray’s move and said that the MNS chief had just woken up to the problems that the students have been facing for several days. He alleged that such a move was indicative of the issue getting a political colour and it was unfortunate that the leaders were trying to gain mileage out of it.
