15.93 Lakh applications received for NEET 2020 by NTA; Total MBBS seats 76,928

New Delhi: For NEET 2020, the entrance to MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses across the country, a total of 15,93,452 applications were received by National Testing Agency (NTA) with a rise of 4.87 per cent compared to last year, the Indian Express recently reported.

This year, the admission to MBBS course in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) and all AIIMS like institutions will also be made through NEET only.

With no separate MBBS entrance exams to be conducted this year, the registration process for this year's NEET saw a rise of 4.87 percent with 74,083 more candidates applying this year in addition to over 15 lakh who applied last year for the exam.

Medical Dialogues had reported that this major change in the medical education system is one of the features of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2019 which is soon going to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The National Medical Commission Act, 2019 provides for common national entrance test – NEET – along with common counselling for MBBS, and a common final year MBBS exam which will be applicable to all institutes including those of national importance like AIIMS.

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As per the statistics reported by the Indian Express, the maximum applications that have been received this year were from Maharashtra with a number of 2.28 lakh applicants, followed by Uttar Pradesh with the second-highest number of applicants i.e. 1.54 lakh candidates.

Third came the state of Rajasthan with 1.38 lakh applications. Other states with most registrations were Karnataka with 1.19 lakh applications followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala with 1.17 and 1.16 lakh candidates, respectively. From Delhi, over 59, 000 applied for the test.

This year, around 33,357 candidates applied from Jammu and Kashmir which was higher than the applicants from NEET 2019 as last year there were 26,595 applicants. Surprisingly, the number of candidates from Jammu and Kashmir has also increased as compared to 2019 despite a ban on internet services because of the agitation going on in the region. Because of the apparent conflict, the students were facing difficulties in applying for NEET 2020, following which the NTA extended the online application process for Kashmir and Leh based aspirants while initiating an offline process for them.

This year the least number of applications were from Lakshadweep with 183 registrations followed by Daman and Diu and Andaman and Nicobar islands with 707 and 800 applications, respectively. The smaller number of registrations was because of the low population density in these states.

NEET 2020 will be conducted on 3 May 2020 (Sunday) from 02:00 p.m. to 05:00 p.m for admission to 76,928 MBBS, 26,99 BDS, 52,720 AYUSH, 525 BVSc, 1205 AIIMS and 200 JIPMER MBBS seats in government, private, deemed/central universities.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR NEET 2020

MBBS, BDS and UG AYUSH aspirants who are going for this year's  National Eligibility cum Entrance Test- NEET 2020, are hereby informed that the test is going to be conducted in 11 languages. The objective of the test prepared in these separate languages is to conduct it with utmost transparency.

Read Also: NEET 2020 in 11 languages