Rajasthan declines NEXT, reveals RTI

Jaipur: The state of Rajasthan is one of the many other states of the country has not taken up the cause for the implementation of the National Exit Test .

A video conference conducted by the Health Ministry with the state of Rajasthan had the state lay bare its views on the introduction of NEXT . Chandrashekhar Gaur, an RTI activist also revealed the state's denial of consent for the exit exam.

The Union Health Ministry in December 2016 had made public the Indian Medical Council (Amendment ) Bill 2016, in which it spoke of MBBS students having to clear NEXT, after passing MBBS.

In an RTI reply, the Ministry of Health in a document furnished has substantiated the state's denial of consent to NEXT . The denial was further confirmed in Rajasthan refusing online skill evaluation, as well as, the Practical (NEXT) exam. The state also showed no inclination towards NEXT replacing NEET (PG). It also said 'No' to UPSC conducting NEXT.

Eight other states including Uttarakhand, Telangana Andhra Pradesh Karnataka,, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Goa, and West Bengal, have not come out in support of NEXT. Having said that, the RTI has also revealed that 12 states including harkhand, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha and Punjab have favoured the conduct of the exam.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: NEXT Exam: 12 States, 4 UTs Favour National Exit Test For Doctor Title

Medical students in some states have come forward to stage a protest against NEXT. In February, Rajasthan's medical college students in Ajmer had staged a protest against the 'Exit Exam' also. Calling it an irrelevant exercise for a student who had completed his MBBS, they said it would only hamper their career. They had threatened a state-level protest in this matter, a medical student added.

The Ministry however, continues to maintain a keen interest in the implementation of NEXT, in order to improve the quality of medical education. NEXT was also planned with the aim to substitute three tests, including: recruitment for central health services, NEET for postgraduate admissions, and the foreign graduate medical examination. NEXT will also go ahead in making public, the performance of medical college students, reports TOI.