The Students Federation of India (SFI) has strongly opposed the Centre’s move to introduce the National Exit Test (NEXT) for MBBS graduates to qualify themselves as doctors and to secure registration for clinical practice.
In a release, A. Anand, secretary of the Puducherry unit of SFI, said the move proposed by the Centre through an amendment to the Indian Medical Council Bill would discourage meritorious students to take up medical courses.
It was unfair that students who had already been selected through the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) were being asked to appear for NEXT at the end of five years.
The Puducherry government should not accept the Centre’s decision and register its protest against the draft Bill to safeguard the interests of MBBS students from the Union Territory, Mr. Anand said.