NMC revises age criterion for NEET UG

Mumbai: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has revised the minimum age criterion for candidates appearing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET UG).

According to the newly-notified Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (GMER-23) on June 2, candidates must have completed the age of 17 years on or before January 31 of the year of admission to UG medical courses in order to be eligible for NEET-UG. Previously, the cut-off date was December 31 of the admission year.

As per the GMER-23, candidates aspiring for MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses must have passed their 10+2 (or equivalent) with subjects, including physics, chemistry, biology or biotechnology, and English to be eligible for NEET-UG. These regulations were published in the Indian Gazette on June 2 and were subsequently uploaded on the official NMC website (nmc.org.in).

Besides, the new regulations state that there will be a common counselling process for admission to graduate medical courses in all medical institutions based on the NEET-UG merit list. The Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) will publish guidelines for conducting counselling and the designated authorities will submit the final list of students to the UGMEB within one week of its completion. Each medical institution will also submit the final list of admitted students to the UGMEB within one week of the last date of joining the course.

The regulation further stated, “The UGMEB is responsible for publishing the model curriculum and outcome objectives on the NMC website, which will serve as the foundation for the development of detailed medical curricula by respective universities. Additional choice-based credit courses of limited duration will be offered alongside the NMC curriculum. Completion of a rotating medical internship as per the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations (CRMI), 2021, is necessary for a UG medical student to be considered a graduate.”

Welcoming the regulation, Brijesh Sutaria, parent of an MBBS student, said, “This process will help bring transparency into the medical admission process and give all students a fair chance to get into college as per their merit.”

Currently, NMC conducts admissions for 15% All India Quota (AIQ) and 100% seats of deemed universities, and admissions in state or civic-run colleges and all private colleges are conducted by the authority decided by every state government. “In the old process, high-scoring students used to block two seats, one in the AIQ and another in the state quota. With this new process, this is not possible for any student,” Sutaria added.

Raising concerns about the age criteria, Sudha Shenoy, an activist, said, “The age criteria as per the gazette: applicants should have completed 17 years on January 31 of the year of admission. But this should be December 31 of the admission year; otherwise, many students will become ineligible for the exam.” She further added that the new regulation will help to stop backdoor admissions in colleges against the Non-resident of India (NRI) quota.

Welcoming the regulation, Pravin Shingare, former director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said, “The central government should make sure about the agency they hired for the admission to streamline an errorless admission process.”