Centre asks states to adopt common veterinary admission test

The Centre has asked all states to admit students in veterinary courses through a national common admission test from next year onwards on the lines of NEET for medical courses.
At present, Veterinary Council of India (VCI) conducts an 'All India Pre-Veterinary Test (AIPVT)' for admission to veterinary courses for filling up 15 per cent of all-India quota seats in veterinary colleges, and the rest 85 per cent state quota seats is filled up by states via separate test.
The Union Agriculture Ministry had asked all states to fill up the state quota through AIPVT for 2016 academic year. However, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Rajasthan agreed to participate.

"The four states participated in the AIPVT-2016 held last week. I have written to rest of the states to come on board for the next year," Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan told reporters here.
The Centre is keen that the veterinary admission for next year must be done only on the basis of the common entrance test similar to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) being done for medical courses, he said.
"The states need not conduct separate test. A single test is envisaged with the sole objective to provide quality health care in the livestock sector," Balyan said.

There are 44 government veterinary colleges and universities in the country and there are no private run institutes in this stream.

Expressing concern over lack of faculty in agriculture and veterinary colleges in the country, Balyan said, "There is solution to this problem if states agree.
"Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) conducts a test for hiring faculty for central agri-colleges attached to ICAR. Once ASRB announces the cut off list, the rest can be recruited by the state governments," he said.
The situation is so bad that college infrastructure is in place in many states but there is not enough faculty. The state governments are not giving permission to recruit faculty in these colleges due to lack of funds for paying salary and other allowances, he added.

Balyan said the Central government is doing its bit in granting funds to the farm and livestock sector, but the state governments should also contribute and ensure all vacant posts are filled up in agri and veterinary colleges.
There are 74 agricultural universities and 44 veterinary colleges and universities in the country.