Two months ago when Aishwarya Raghunathan completed her board exams, she dreamt of a career in medicine and believed that the government in Tamil Nadu will help her achieve her dreams. But her dreams remain shattered now. She has given up all her hopes of getting into a medical college and is considering other options.
“I could not clear NEET (National Eligibility and Entrance Test) as I did not prepare well in advance. I believed our state government would save us. I have decided to do B Pharm. But MBBS always is close to my heart,” she says.
Aishwarya is just one of the several thousands of medical aspirants who moved from the CBSE board to the state board two years ago when she joined plus one, only with an aim to get a high score which will help get into a medical college. As the state government is still arguing its case with the Centre and in the courts to get exemption from NEET, time is running out for students like Aishwarya who have been caught in an inconvenient spot. “I cannot afford to wait till this month end as the admissions in other colleges too will close,” says Aishwarya.
In a state where there are more than 8,000 students vying for the 3,000 odd MBBS seats in medical colleges across Tamil Nadu, NEET continues to remain as a cause of worry. Last week, when a court order struck down the 85 per cent reservation for Tamil Nadu state education board students in medical colleges across the state, it appeared getting into medical colleges will be a challenge for the students from the state board.
Even as the state is fighting the matter, the students have lost all hopes. In fact, with the counselling already under way for those who have cleared NEET, the students from the state board, despite scoring well, may not be able to make it to the medical colleges. “We have been continuously demanding the Centre to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET. Our health minister has even camped in Delhi, requesting for exemption from NEET,” Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy told the media when asked about the concerns of the students.
Unlike Aishwarya, for students like Vedavalli Paranthaman, a student from the CBSE board, the state’s indecisiveness might cost career. “We do not know what the state government is up to. If NEET will be exempted we can continue to wait. Else students like me can at least apply in the medical colleges in other states. Time is running out for all India seats,” she says.
In Tamil Nadu which has around 22 state run medical colleges and 10 self financing medical colleges, the 85 per cent government quota was on the basis of nativity. According to the data submitted by the state government in the Madras High court, at least 2,000 state board students and 520 CBSE students had chances of getting medical seats based on their NEET score. But with NEET in place, the students from other states securing MBBS seats through the government quota will go up from 47 in 2016 to at least 500 this year.
It was on July 31 that the Madras High Court dismissed an appeal filed by the state. A single judge bench had earlier ordered reserving 85 per cent of MBBS and BDS seats to state board students and only 15 per cent for CBSE and other boards. The July 31 judgment quashing the government order of 85-15 per cent quota for state and other boards respectively, noted that “it amounted to discrimination among equals.”
A division bench of Madras High Court comprising Justices Nooty Ramamohana Rao and M Dhandapani upheld the July 14 order of Justice K. Ravichandrabaabu which quashed the government order. The bench further directed the Tamil Nadu state government to take necessary steps expeditiously from now on to accomplish the task of filling up the seats in MBBS and BDS courses before the August 31 deadline.
However, with the government indecisiveness and shuttling between courts, the medical aspirants are left in the lurch.
