Gujrat accepts NEET, Admissions on Pro-Rata Basis

Ahmedabad: In a major relief to aspiring medical students of Gujarat Board, the state government announced that the admissions in medical and dental colleges for the academic year 2017-18 will be given on pro-rata basis under NEET.

The decision has been taken after parents made several representations to the government in this regard, Gujarat Health Minister Shankar Chaudhary said in a statement.

Clearing the air about medical admissions in the state, Chaudhary also said that students need to appear only for National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) and not for GUJCET (Gujarat Common Entrance Test).

"Students are no longer required to appear for GUJCET to seek admission in medical courses in Gujarat. For the academic year of 2017-18, we will only take into consideration the merit of NEET-UG," Chaudhary, who also handles medical education portfolio, said.

Before the NEET was made mandatory by the Supreme Court, medical admissions in Gujarat were subject to GUJCET merit.

Under the GUJCET, seats were allotted on pro-rata basis, wherein Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) students used to get more seats in comparison to CBSE students of the state.

Now, state government has announced to implement pro-rata under NEET too.

"We have received several representations from parents requesting us to make sure that Gujarat Board students are not subjected to injustice when NEET is implemented here. We have taken that demand positively and decided to retain pro-rata for the upcoming academic year," the minister added.