NEET: 97 % MBBS seats have been bagged by students who wrote papers in English

In a shocking revelation, it has come to light that 97.48 percent of MBBS seats across the country this year have been bagged by the candidates who appeared the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) with English as the medium of examination. Curiously, only 2.52 percent medical seats have been secured by the candidates writing their paper in vernacular languages.

The NEET is the single level medical entrance examination formally introduced in the country from this year. There was a furore after the medical aspirants from Bengal and from some other states alleged that the standard of the question paper in most vernacular languages was much harder than the one in English and Hindi.

As per a notification published by the Central Board Secondary Education (CBSE) on 7 May this year, there are 65,000 undergraduate medical seats in the country. Out of this total figure around 63,360 seats have been secured by English medium students.

2,795 students who wrote their paper English scored 600 marks and over, and only one student appearing in vernacular languages managed to breach the 600 mark. Usually, the candidates who score 600 & above manage to secure admission in different prestigious medical colleges and universities in the country.

In NEET 2017, a lion's share of these seats in the prestigious medical colleges was secured by English medium candidates. In past years about 44% seats in prestigious medical colleges and universities had been filled by the students from various vernacular languages.

The number of English medium candidates obtaining above 500 marks (out of total 720) is 63,360 out of 65,000 medical seats in the country. The number figure is woefully low when it comes to vernacular students. Only 882 vernacular candidates have managed to score above 500.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday observed that there should be a common question paper for the medical examination – NEET. Hearing a plea filed by a student over the difficulty level of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, the apex court ruled that CBSE, conducting body, has to file an affidavit informing what mechanism they will opt for conducting the exam from next year.

A petition was filed last month by a group of students alleging that the difficulty level of question paper in eight vernacular languages is higher in comparison to English and Hindi. CBSE has already rejected that there were any variations in the question papers in a previous hearing.

The Supreme Court has also sought the data of candidates who cracked the entrance exam in vernacular language.