Not in favour now of common entrance exam: Apex court told

NEW DELHI - The union health ministry Friday told the Supreme Court that “at this stage” it was not in favour of integrated entrance examination for medical and engineering streams.

The Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) told the apex court that “it is constrained to submit that it does not support the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) plea for permission to conduct an Amalgamated Entrance Examination for medical and engineering streams”.

Amalgamation of the AIEEE and AIPMT examinations, as being proposed by the CBSE would enable those students who have opted for both biology and mathematics at the +2 level to appear for both entrance examination with greater ease, the DGHS told the apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik.

However, DGHS told the court that “even if it is considered desirable to maximize choices for the candidates, the proposed amalgamation would present certain practical and logistical difficulties in counselling process”.

The affidavit filed by Prof. Mangala Koli, assistant director general (Medical Education), DGHS, said that candidate eligible to appear for both medical and engineering examination, may eventually secure a place on both the merit lists.

The DGHS, as counselling agency for all India quota MBBS/BDS seats, would have to contend with the eventuality of vacancies arising on account of a candidate giving up his medical seat in order to opt for an engineering seat.

The Directorate General said that these were not insurmountable difficulties, but they require much greater attention to the detailed manner in which the counselling process/schedule would also be synchronized to minimize vacancies on account of candidates not joining.

The court adjourned the hearing by two weeks and permitted CBSE to file a rejoinder to the DGHS affidavit.