The Union Health Ministry has cleared an amendment to a law, which, if cleared by Parliament, will allow the Medical Council of India to conduct a single, common entrance test for admissions for undergraduate and post-graduate medical courses across the country.
The test may be introduced in 2016 if the Cabinet approves the proposal. A draft note has been circulated among the Ministries before it is presented to the Cabinet, a senior Health Ministry official told PTI.
After Cabinet clearance, the amended Indian Medical Council Act needs to be cleared by Parliament for the MCI to finally have the power to conduct such an examination.
If it comes into being, students will be spared the burden of traversing the length and breadth of the country and pay multiple entrance fees to take several tests for a shot at a medical seat. The MCI, it is learnt, has told the government that it could either notify an existing examination, for instance, the All-India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT), or a new one as the common test.
Earlier attemptsThe MCI attempted to hold a common exam for postgraduate seats in 2012 and undergraduate seats in 2013. But nearly 80 private colleges, several led by minority institutions and that currently have the freedom to organise their own tests, united to take the MCI to court. The Supreme Court ruled that the existing laws allowed the MCI only to decide the curriculum and not to administer entrance tests.
“The Indian Medical Association fully supports a common test. It is merit-based and will reduce the problem of expensive capitation fees. It is now a question of whether the government has the political will to ensure that this amendment goes through,” K.K. Aggarwal, President, Indian Medical Association, told The Hindu .
The MCI is a statutory body responsible for governing the medical curriculum and endorsing medical qualification in India. The move to have a common entrance test for medical students was first initiated in 2009 when the council was headed by Ketan Desai.
