Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has taken note of reports that the agents are active in the Government and private medical colleges assuring the students/guardians about admission in medical colleges by charging money from them;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the action taken by the Government in the matter?
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a) to (c): The Central Government with the objective to provide a more just, fair and transparent selection procedure that recognizes merit as criteria, had introduced the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to Under Graduate (UG)/Post Graduate (PG) Medical Courses. Accordingly, MCI amended Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997 and Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000 vide Notifications dated 21.12.2010 to conduct examination from the academic year 2012-13. MCI issued a revised Notification dated 27.02.2012 to conduct examination from the academic year 2013-14. The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its judgment dated 18.07.2013 in NEET related cases quashed the implementation of NEET. The Central Government and MCI filed Review Petition (C) No.2048-2157 of 2013 and Review Petition (C) No.2159-2268 of 2013 respectively before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The Review Petitions were heard by the Five-Judge Bench of Hon’ble Supreme Court. The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its order dated 11.04.2016 has allowed these Review Petitions and ordered that “We, therefore, allow these Review Petitions and recall the judgment dated 18th July, 2013 and direct that the matters be heard afresh. The Review Petitions stand disposed of as allowed.” Further, vide its order dated 28.04.2016 in Writ Petition No.261/2016 filed by Sankalp Charitable Trust and anr., the Hon’ble Supreme Court has allowed conduct of NEET (UG) in two phases.
In case of Government Medical Colleges, the respective State Governments are responsible for fixation of fees, However, in the case of private unaided Medical Colleges, the free structure is decided by the Committee set up by the respective State Government under the Chairmanship of a retired High Court Judge in pursuance of the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. It is for the Committee to decide whether the fee proposed by an Institute is justified and the fee fixed by the Committee is binding on the Institute.