Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has recently notified to allow persecuted migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh settled in India to take NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) 2017. The announcement means the removal of exception for refugees to take up medical entrance test, which was the norm till last year. Migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh were allowed to pursue medical courses in the self-financing schemes of the ministry, based on their class 12 marks last year. However, this year, there will be no exception from taking NEET as a result of the Supreme Court order passed last year.
Admission of the refugees will be made on seats allotted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to Ministry of External Affairs in 26 medical institutes across the country. Candidates taking the examination will have to self-finance their study as no financial aid or scholarships will be provided to them by the MEA. The fees structure will depend on the institute that the candidates are admitted in, based on their scores in NEET 2017.
Speaking to PaGaLGuY, Rajesh Kumar Sharma, Under Secretary (Education) Ministry of External Affairs, pointed out that the decision has been taken based on the Supreme Court judgment related to NEET last year. “Implementation of the Supreme Court order to make NEET compulsory for admission in medical courses across the country has resulted into this move. Now, migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh who were not allowed to take up the medical admission test until last year, will be able to compete with the general students for admission in MBBS/BDS courses,” said Sharma. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi is one of the institutes where migrants will get a seat.
Candidates applying for the seats need to have at least 50% marks in PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) and 50% marks in English in their standard 12 examination. Applicants in this category have to provide details about their Entry Visa into India and send a copy of their Long Term Visa, along with other academic documents with their application.
Three copies of filled in application forms along with other documents should be sent to The Under Secretary (Education), Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. Sending the application will not secure admission for these candidates as their documents will be first scrutinised by the MEA. Upon satisfactory response from the ministry, names of the eligible candidates will be considered for admission in different medical institutes based on their merit and rank in the NEET 20017.