The Common Entrance Test (CET) for all MBBS and postgraduate medicine courses in India has resulted in the Union Health Ministry and the Medical Council of India (MCI) being at loggerheads with each other. The MCI had issued a notification recently making the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) mandatory for admission to all medical courses in the country. However, the health ministry had directed the MCI to withdraw the notification immediately. The MCI has now decided to not withdraw the notification, alleging that it had been issued based on the approval by the Supreme Court received on December 14 and the affidavit that had been filed by the ministry in support of the CET. The notification had been published by the MCI on December 21, 2010 that had amended the regulations on graduate and postgraduate medical education. The notification had also introduced the NEET as the only admission requirement for medical courses and added the marks of students in mathematics would also be considered for MBBS admissions besides the prescribed cut-off percentage of NEET marks for various sections of candidates. Meanwhile, Union Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal spoke to the media at Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu and said that the final decision regarding the matter would be taken only after the opinions of all states have been considered.
