The state government on Tuesday indicated that students aspiring for MBBS, dental and PG medical courses from the next academic year (2013-14) will have to appear for the new national common entrance tests — Neet (UG) and Neet (PG) respectively. It said the chances of conducting Eamcet medical test in 2013 look grim.

The government said that despite its repeated attempts to convince the Centre to exempt Andhra Pradesh students from Neet in 2013 and allow it to adopt the new tests from 2014, there has been no “positive response” from the Centre so far.

The government is now exploring legal options to seek exemption from Neet in 2013. A final decision will be taken by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy in a week. “We have made several requests to the Centre to exempt AP students from Neet in 2013 and offered to adopt Neet from 2014 on the grounds that students who took admission in 10+2 courses last year do not face any problem with Neet. It will also be convenient for a fresh batch of students who took admission in 10+2 courses this year if Neet is implemented from 2014 so that they can prepare accordingly for the new test from this year. However, we have not received any positive response from the Centre so far. In these conditions, we may not be in a position to conduct Eamcet medical test in 2013,” said K.Ratna Kishore, principal secretary, department of health, medical and family welfare. The state has been maintaining that it is trying to convince the Centre to exempt AP students from the new tests in 2013 and is ready to adopt the new tests from 2014.