NEET-UG to be held only once every year? Government responds

Mumbai: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduates (NEET-UG) will be only held once every year, confirmed Minister of State (MoS) for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar in a Lok Sabha session.

“National Medical Commission (NMC) & National Testing Agency (NTA) have informed that there is no proposal to conduct NEET UG exams for providing two chances in a year,” she said.

In a recent parliamentary session, MP Ramesh Chand Bind raised several questions about the national medical entrance exam. One of these questions was whether the government would consider conducting the NEET UG exam twice a year, like the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main.

Bind said that the two attempts would “save NEET aspirants from stress and depression of cracking the difficult competition in a single attempt only or lose one precious year."

Responding to the minister's concern, Bharati Pravin Pawar said that the NEET has already reduced student stress as they don't have to appear for multiple entrance exams anymore.

“NEET is a historic reform promoting meritocracy and providing an opportunity for meritorious students to get admission to the best medical institutions in the country. It has resulted in curbing malpractices in medical admission [and] greater transparency," stated the written reply in Lok Sabha.