Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Patil has convened a meeting of the senior officials of the Medical Education Department, Law Department and the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) in Bengaluru on Saturday to study the implications of the Supreme Court judgement on conducting the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET).
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Dr. Patil said a decision on the next course of action would be taken keeping in mind the students’ interests, including filing a review petition challenging the Supreme Court order.
He had cancelled his visit to Koppal to join the Cabinet Sub-Committee on drought and was rushing back to Bengaluru.
The Minister, who had preliminary discussions over phone with the senior officials of the department and legal experts, said that directions have been given to the department’s secretary to hold preliminary discussions with the law department and legal experts on Friday. Dr. Patil refused to go into the details of the merits of the judgement. He, however, said he would consult the Advocate General and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The Minister admitted that the Medical Council of India and the centre should have consulted the state governments, before giving an undertaking before the Supreme Court that they were ready to conduct NEET.
He said that there would be practical difficulties in hurriedly conducting the NEET scheduled on July 24 and the students, who had prepared for the Common Entrance Test, would have to prepare for NEET in a short while.
