Supreme Court verdict has put a stop to all uncertainties over National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) compulsion for AYUSH admissions. From the new academic session onwards, NEET will be mandatory to secure an admission into Undergraduate Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) courses.
A bench comprising of justices L Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta observed that minimum standard cannot be lowered even for AYUSH courses thus sustain the validity of the notifications issued by the Council of Indian Medicine, which had mandated NEET to get admission to an undergraduate Ayush courses.)
As per the SC verdict, “Doctors who are qualified in Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathy streams also treat patients and the lack of minimum standards of education would result in half-baked doctors being turned out of professional colleges, so prescribing a National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions to courses in these streams cannot be faulted.”
The SC, in its judgment has cited its 2000 decision in the Veterinary Council of India vs. Indian Council of Agricultural Research in which it had upheld regulations framed by the Veterinary Council of India prescribing the standards for veterinary education and also mention that the current case also directly covered by that judgment.
Similarly SC also issued a notice for introducing the AYUSH Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIA-PGET) for admission to postgraduates Ayush (MD-Ayurveda) course.
To read the complete judgment click Here