Page 68 - EW July 2024
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Special Report


         India's medical education capacity distribution


          State                No. of colleges  MBBS seats  State               No. of colleges   MBBS seats
                               Govt.   Pvt.    Govt.    Pvt.                    Govt.   Pvt.    Govt .   Pvt.
          Andaman & Nicobar Islands  1   0   114   0       Maharashtra          32    36    5,125  5,720
          Andhra Pradesh       18    19    3,235   3,250   Manipur              3     1     375   150
          Arunachal Pradesh    1     0     50    0         Meghalaya            1     0     50    0
          Assam                13    0     1,550  0        Mizoram              1     0     100   0
          Bihar                13    8     1,615  1,150    Nagaland             1     0     100   0
          Chandigarh           1     0     150   0         Orissa               12    5     1,675  850
          Chhattisgarh         11    3     1,555  450      Puducherry           2     7     380   1,450
          Dadra and Nagar Haveli   1   0   177   0         Punjab               5     7     850   950
          Delhi                8     2     1,247  250      Rajasthan            26    9     3,925  1,650
          Goa                  1     0     180   0         Sikkim               0     1     0     150
          Gujarat              23    17    4,250  2,900    Tamil Nadu           38    36    5,275   6,375
          Haryana              6     9     835   1,350     Telangana            28    28    3,890  4,600
          Himachal Pradesh     7     1     770   150       Tripura              1     1     125   100
          Jammu and Kashmir    11    1     1,239   100     Uttar Pradesh        35    33    4,303   5,600
          Jharkhand            7     2     730   250       Uttarakhand          5     3     700   450
          Karnataka            24    46    3,750  7,995    West Bengal          26    9     3,825   1,450
          Kerala               12    21    1,755  2,900    Total                389   317   56,300  52,640
          Madhya Pradesh       15    12    2,400   2,400                     Source: Lok Sabha response (2.2.2024)



         systems, and more fundamentally                                   state’s legislative assembly has
         in building assessments capacity. It                              passed resolutions demanding NEET
         needs to seriously develop a cadre                                exemption for Tamil Nadu, arguing
         of professionals trained and skilled                              that a single qualifying national test
         in the science of assessment, assess-                             violates federalism and social justice.
         ment design, scaled examinations,                                 On September 13, 2021, the assembly
         examination operations, testing for                               passed the Tamil Nadu Under Gradu-
         skills  versus  testing  for  knowledge,                          ate Medical College Degree Courses
         and standardisation practices using                               Bill, 2021, exempting school-leavers
         advanced  statistics.  Moreover,  NTA                             from the state from writing NEET.
         has under-utilised technology which                               However, the Bill is pending approval
         can be effectively used to ensure great-                          of President Draupadi Murmu, who
         er transparency in the examination                                is obliged to act on the advice of the
         process,” says Meeta Sengupta, an                                 Central government.
         IIM-Ahmedabad alumna and a Delhi-                                   On  June  23,  Tamil  Nadu  chief
         based education advisor and mentor                                minister  M.K. Stalin posted on X
         on leadership, governance, education   Sengupta: technology under-utilisation  (twitter) that the NEET-UG scam and
         and skills.                                                       cancellation of UGC-NET are “final
           Unsurprisingly, NTA’s big NEET-  trance exam. All major political par-  nails in the coffin of an incompetent
         UG  2024  mess  has  resurrected  de-  ties — especially the ruling DMK and   and broken system of centralised se-
         mands  from several non-BJP  ruled   opposition  All  India  Anna  Dravida   lection”. He called for a national con-
         states including Karnataka, West   Munnetra  Kazhagam  (AIADMK)  —   sensus to stipulate higher secondary
         Bengal and Tamil Nadu, to return to   have vehemently opposed NEET on   exam marks as criteria for admission
         pre-2016 position with state govern-  the ground that students from govern-  into medical colleges in every state.
         ments conducting medical college en-  ment, especially rural, schools suffer   “As this scam unravels, let us plan for
         trance examinations. The most vocal   severe disadvantage in writing NEET   a better future and join our hands for
         demand for scrapping NEET is from   because they can’t afford test prep/  building a fair and equitable selection
         Tamil Nadu which ab initio opposed   coaching school drilling and skilling.   process for professional courses, en-
         the introduction of this national en-  On  more  than  one  occasion  the   suring the primacy of school educa-

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