July 24 NEET-II will be held as schedule: Centre

The Centre on Friday said Phase II of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses would be held on July 24 as scheduled.

“The Government of India is fully committed to NEET. First phase has taken place, second phase will also take place,” Health Minister J P Nadda tweeted late on Friday evening.

In an interview with a news agency, Nadda clarified that media reports of an ordinance to avoid NEET are baseless. 

“Let me make it clear, NEET has been implemented and is in existence. First phase is over and the second phase will take place on July



24,” he said. 

Nadda, however, did not clarify which colleges would be covered under NEET-II. The minister’s response came in the wake of intense speculation  about the Cabinet approving an ordinance to postpone NEET-II by a year to bypass a Supreme Court ruling which mandated a common entrance test for medical and dental courses across the country.

Earlier in the week, state health ministers met Nadda asking him to defer NEET. The state health ministers cited issues like parity in syllabus and use of local language to claim that holding NEET at such a short notice would not be in students’ interest.