MCI directs cancellation of 500 admissions in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu medical colleges

New Delhi: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has directed some private colleges in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to cancel admissions of around 500 students who had allegedly not appeared for NEET exam last year.

According to a senior MCI official, these are suspected to be backdoor admissions allegedly done after receiving capitation fees as these states were among those who had opted for NEET.

Around 17 to 18 private colleges in UP have been issued notices asking them to cancel the admissions of over 400 students, MCI secretary Dr Reena Nayyar said.

Similarly, in the line of fire is a private college in Tamil Nadu which has been issued a discharge notice to cancel the admission of around 36 students as it was allegedly done in violation of norms.

"The monitoring committee of MCI found that these institutes have admitted students who did not appear for the NEET exam despite the states opting for NEET," said Dr Nayyar.

The Centre had last year given state governments the option to either conduct their own exams or opt for NEET to fill undergraduate seats.

The committee, Nayyar said, is keeping an eye on admissions in all the medical colleges across the country and is yet to find out the exact numbers of students who did not appear in the NEET but still got admission.

"Such admissions are illegal as the concerned states had opted for NEET and so they cannot bypass it," she said.

The Dental Council of India (DCI) is also examining the admissions in dental colleges across India.

"We have received complaints about illegal admissions in dental colleges in states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and we are scrutinizing such admissions which were done ignoring NEET," Dr A K Chandna, a member of DCI, said.

The government, through NEET, is aiming to bring in more transparency and eliminate the practice of capitation fee charged by private colleges.