SC to Hear Plea on Third NEET Counselling for 1,600 Vacant Seats

The Supreme Court, which is the apex court of the country, will hear the plea on the third-round counselling process for medical courses on September 22, 2017. Senthil Nathan, a doctor filed the plea as close to 1,600 medical seats are still vacant in many medical colleges across the country. He is seeking the court's favour to provide clearance for conducting third round counselling to fill up the vacant seats. A three-judge bench of Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justices Chandrachud and Khanwilkar will hear the plea.

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Since a large number of seats are vacant in the medical colleges in almost all the states, the Supreme Court may give approval for the third counselling so that more students in the merit list can get a chance to get admission in the medical courses.

The central government partially failed to conduct the NEET examination for the admission to medical and dental courses in an effective manner. Since May 7, 2017, there have been many issues with regard to the NEET-UG 2017 exam starting from difficulty levels in regional language papers to Tamil Nadu’s efforts to seek exemption from NEET.

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The recent suicide of a Dalit student in Tamil Nadu who failed to clear NEET and secure admission into MBBS course has triggered massive protests across the state. Students, parents and political parties have demanded NEET exemption from the next year. However, the Supreme Court of India directed the state government to maintain law and order. The court also directed the state government to train Class 12 students for NEET, particularly those in government schools and rural areas, by establishing coaching centres or conducting special classes.