AP seeks exemption from NEET-2013

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday expressed its inability to adopt the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions into MBBS from 2013 as notified by the health ministry citing reasons including late adoption of CBSE curriculum in intermediate.

Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy requested Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad to exempt the state from the proposed NEET-2013 while seeking one more year for switching over to the new system in place of the present state-level entrance test.

According to the chief minister, introduction of NEET would involve certain amendments to the existing laws guiding the admission process. Also, the current batch of students, who joined intermediate in 2011-12, are eligible for the current system of ranking based on 25 per cent weightage of marks secured in the intermediate examination and 75 per cent secured in the state common entrance test.

In addition, the NEET syllabus in based on the CBSE curriculum whereas the state has adopted this curriculum only in the current academic year, the chief minister stated in a letter to Azad.