12 states, 4 UTs approve exit test to become doctors
The National Exit Test(NEXT) by which the status of a “doctor” is achieved is favoured by 12 states and four union territories in India. This information was revealed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a response to a Right to Information(RTI) query.
The states which have expressed support to make NEXT exam mandatory to improve the quality of Indian doctors include Delhi, Puducherry, Chandigarh and Andaman and Nicobar. Other states supporting the exam are Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha.
Nine states disagree
The states that didn’t agree to make the exam mandatory are nine in number. These are Assam, Telangana, Rajastan, Goa, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jammy and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
A high power committee made the proposal in 2016 that the students who pass out of government and private colleges must appear for NEXT paper for MBBS. This was made given the concerns raised over the quality of medical education in the nation.
In fact, the proposal came as part of a pretty long list of reforms in the medical sector. This included replacing the MCI with a National Medical Commission(NMC). The NMC, as per the proposal, would oversee UG and PG accreditation, education and college ratings.
Following the introduction of the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill 2016, the states were asked to provide their opinions on NEXT. As we are seeing, most states are in favour.