Ready to quit for any mistake on medical entrance tests: Tawde

Amid the row over medical entrance tests, Opposition parties today slammed Maharashtra government for "jeopardising" careers of students with its "wrong policy" even as Medical Education Minister Vinod Tawde said he is willing to resign if he has made any mistake on the issue.
Criticising the BJP-led government for its "inept" handling of the issue of medical entrance tests, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde of NCP alleged due to its "wrong policy", careers of over 4.5 lakh students have been jeopardised.
"Minister for Medical Education Vinod Tawde is directly responsible for the damage caused to the careers of these students," Munde said.

The Supreme Court yesterday rejected pleas of state governments and minority institutions to allow them to hold separate entrance exams for MBBS and BDS courses for the academic year 2016-17.
The apex court had said only NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) provides for conducting such a test for admission to these courses.
Tawde today said Munde should have called him up if he was so much concerned over the issue.

"If I have made any mistake, then Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde need not demand my resignation, I myself shall resign. If Munde was really concerned, he should have called me up," Tawde told reporters.

Reacting to the Supreme Court verdict, Tawde said the Maharashtra government has filed a review petition before the Supreme Court on three important counts.
"The Supreme Court has been petitioned to leave out (from NEET ambit) those states (like Maharashtra) which have already held their own Common Entrance Test (CET) and allow students to write exams in their mother tongue," he said.
The BJP minister said none of the Education ministers from Congress-ruled states turned up at the court hearing.
Leader of Opposition in Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe- Patil of Congress said the BJP-led government has been found lacking in its support for students from the state.

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Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt also came down heavily on the Fadnavis-led government.
"The government has not yet appointed a full time Advocate General and hence it failed to effectively articulate its stand before the SC. Lakhs of students have to face the brunt of the government's mismanagement and lackadaisical attitude," Dutt said.
The state government failed to convince the apex court to make changes in its ruling that NEET shall be held from this year, Vikhe-Patil said.
The top court had approved the schedule put before it by the Centre, CBSE and Medical Medical Council of India (MCI) for treating All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) fixed for May 1 as NEET-1.

Those who have not applied for AIPMT will be given opportunity to appear in NEET-II on July 24 and the combined result would be declared on August 17 so that the admission process can be completed by September 30.
Around 6.5 lakh students wrote the May 1 NEET-I.
The Supreme Court rejected the contentions of the states, private medical colleges and the minority institutions that they have the legislative competence to hold separate entrance tests.