A Dilapidated System

Medical education in India has been witnessing the heights of injustice for quite some time. The plight of some the meritorious students and their parents is really miserable. Though the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is (NEET) conducted by the CBSE for admission to MBBS/BDS courses,  lot of unjust practices have been going on in the matter of admission to medical courses. The private Medical Colleges have been extracting exorbitant amounts running to lakhs/crores from the parents of students for admission. The existing ruined system sees meritorious students not securing medical admission as their parents are not able to spend lakhs of money, while students who have secured very low ranks in NEET are getting admission only because their parents are in a position to pump in colossal amounts of money. And when academically backward students secure medical admission, how far it affects the standard and quality of the doctors ‘produced’ by such a system is a matter of concern.

The above money game coupled with the existing reservation system for certain sections of students is resulting in denial of justice to meritorious students whose parents are not in a position to pump in lakhs of money and those who do not have any reservation benefits. It is a fact that this is sheer denial of justice to certain sections of students and crass discrimination based on the power of money. In some States, nativity issue also seals the chances of students of other States.

There is no regulatory mechanism as of now to oversee and control the shabby practices going on in the realm of medical admission. The responsibility of the CBSE is limited to the conduct of NEET, declaration of result and providing All India Rank to the Directorate General Health Services, Government of India for the conduct of counselling for 15% All India Quota Seats and for supplying the result to state/other Counselling Authorities. It is high time that a Medical Admissions Regulatory Authority was set up to oversee, monitor control and regulate the medical admission regime. A suggestion to this effect has been submitted to the Union Ministry of HRD and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.