The state government announced on Thursday that admissions for MBBS courses in the state would be henceforth done through on the national common entrance exam, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which would be conducted by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

Thus there will be no state-level Eamcet medical entrance examinations from this year. The announcement, however, triggered widespread protests across the state from students, parents, academicians and college managements, who termed it “hasty” and “unilateral”. Many were of the opinion that students from Andhra Pradesh would be shortchanged if the government went ahead with NEET at this stage since there was not enough time to prepare according to the new exam format and for the lecturers to train the candidates.

However, one of their main worries, that Telugu Medium students would face problems as it had been announced that the test would be conducted only in English and Hindi, was put to rest as Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said that the all-India medical test would be conducted in Telugu and other regional languages as well.

Last year, around 30,000 students had appeared for the Eamcet medical exam in Telugu and that number is expected to increase by 20 per cent this year. State minister for medical and health D.L. Ravindra Reddy told reporters that the government had initiated steps to replace the Eamcet medical exam with NEET as per directions of the Supreme Court. “Ninety per cent of the process to replace Eamcet medical exam with NEET is over. The rest will be completed soon and orders will be issued abolishing Eamcet medical exam from this year. MBBS admissions will be made based on merit secured in NEET,“ Mr Reddy said.

However, the minister's statement has not gone down well with various quarters who asked the government to explain whether it had consulted all the stake holders before taking such a crucial decision which could impact the future of thousands of in the state. “I was surprised to know that NEET will replace Eamcet from this year. Any changes should be informed to students well in advance. Students aiming for MBBS seats this year have already finished the first year Intermediate course. They are left with only five months to complete the Second Year's course, which means 18 months of their 2-year course is already over. In between, they have to prepare for Inter practical exams in February and theory exams in March. At this stage, if they have to prepare for NEET, it will adversely affect most of the students. Where is the time for them to prepare and teachers to train? The government should reverse its decision and inform students about any changes two-years in advance,“ said Dr B.S. Rao, chairman of Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutions.

The government junior lecturers association and the NTR University of Health Sciences, which regulates medical colleges in the state, also expressed their reservations over the issue. “The students should be informed at least one year in advance regarding any changes in the medical entrance exam,” said Dr IV Rao, vice-chancellor of NTRUHS. Mr Azad said that in 2009-10, when the MCI had consulted the states about the feasibility of conducting an all-India test as per the directions of the SC, it had been Tamil Nadu, which had opposed it and demanded that the exam be conducted in regional languages as well.