The Supreme Court has ruled that for seats in government and private medical and dental colleges and universities all across India (except AIIMS, PGIMER and JIPMER) the only entrance exam henceforth will be NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test).
This will be valid for admissions for 2016-17, too.
That means EAMCET held by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is now history as far as medical college seats are concerned (the exam is held as an entrance test for medical, engineering, dental and agricultural under-graduate course seats in the two Telugu States).
The Medical Council of India had introduced NEET in 2012 as a common medical entrance test for all UG and PG courses in India, but it was outlawed by the Supreme Court almost instantly in response to petitions challenging it. The apex court however reinstated the exam in 2016, amid protests from several States that felt it encroached upon a State subject (education).
AP had held its EAMCET a few weeks back, but withheld the results pending the SC verdict on NEET. It released the engineering results today. Telangana has decided to go ahead with conducting EAMCET on May 15 despite the SC verdict, saying the entrance was for courses aside of MBBS and BDS, too.
NEET Phase 2 will be held in July 24 (Phase 1 was held on May 1), and students can take any of the two tests. Those who take the second phase test in addition to the first will have their first test scores scrapped.