The recent announcement by the National Medical Council regarding the PG NEET qualifying percentile has caused some confusion among parents and journalists alike. Owing to the lack of understanding the press release put out by the government, journalists at a press meet with Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party head, K Annamalai questioned the logic behind the qualifying percentile.
In the midst of his En Mann En Makkal padayatra, Annamalai in his usual calm manner welcomed the question from the journalist and asked him how many seats were left vacant from the NEET last year for which the journalist had no answer. Speaking with dignified confidence, the former IPS officer went on to school the reporter about the issue.
In reply to the journalist’s question, Annamalai asked him a counter question to gauge his knowledge of the latest developments surrounding NEET. He asked the reporter if he was aware of the number of vacant seats in PG medical. The reporter did not have an answer so Annamalai reprimanded him mildly for not having done basic research. He then went on to answer the question the reporter had put forth. He said, “Last year for NEET PG, 50% was deemed as the cutoff. Last year there were 180000 seats available under PG NEET. Of these, several were vacant especially teaching courses such as physiology. Owing to this, this year the government annoucned that in case of PG, just having attempted the exam was enough for consideration. MBBS itself is a cutoff test and that is wht they are saying as 0 percentile. The certificate that one gets after clearing their MBBS exams is itself a qualification to PG. The main aim of this move is to fill the vacant seats in the teaching courses in the medical field. PG courses are allowed admissions only by merit. The admissions are based on their NEET scores only. Why this 0 percentile is introduced is that as far as entry into PG course is concerned, a pass in MBBS is enough. Importantly, the 180000 seats have to be filled and the teaching courses have to be filled primarily.
Now many candidates choose courses like dermatology, radiology than taking up teaching courses. To encourage doctors to choose other courses is the reason why 0 percentile has been introduced and only then there will be teachers in medical colleges. The government had clearly explained what this 0 percentile concept was when they introduced it. There is no controversy regarding this.
As far as NEET is concerned, it is an extrance exam for MBBS course. The PG NEET has changed its entry criteria for those who have completed their MBBS courses but the allocation of seats is only through All India counselling based on the vacancy.”
He also quoted an example to make things clear. He said, if you have scored 20 percentile, then your turn for counselling will come only when the 80 percentile has chosen their seats and you get to choose from the available courses/seats. There is no confusion regarding this, all one needs to do is to read the press release put out by the government.
சன் டிவி காரன் கார்ட் பார்த்து கேள்வி கேக்காதடா பரமா, படிடா pic.twitter.com/0rg8zc8n7N
— Krishna Kumar Murugan (@ikkmurugan) September 21, 2023
The media in Tamil Nadu as previously seen has been asking questions only to the BJP while they resort to asking lame questions of the ruling DMK. In fact, the media here has never opened its mouth where questions need to be asked. But instead, they make it a point to do that with the BJP representatives, especially Annamalai.
The NEET issue is a very contentious one, mainly in TN where the DMK had promised to remove the requirement of a NEET exam for MBBS course admissions in the state. The Governor, RN Ravi, strongly endorses the exam and had vowed that he would never clear the “Scrap NEET bill” from the ruling government.
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