Capitation Fees in Focus: The Ongoing Battle Over NEET's Future

In light of the ongoing controversy surrounding the NEET-UG paper leaks, which has raised questions about the entire examination mechanism of the National Testing Agency (NTA), various political parties and stakeholders are calling for the scrapping of NEET and a return to the previous state-level medical admission systems. Earlier this week, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution urging the central government to abolish NEET. Similarly, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee voiced her support for this move in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

‘Scrapping NEET Not A Solution’ 

While there is a growing demand to scrap NEET, experts oppose this idea, arguing that NEET was introduced to alleviate student burden and curb the unofficial capitation fees charged by private medical colleges. Advocate Anubha Srivastava Sahai, known for advocating student issues in the Supreme Court, has proposed several measures to enhance the examination system and educational governance. She suggests that states rigorously enforce laws against capitation fees and calls for annual audits of private colleges' balance sheets to ensure financial transparency. With only 58,000 government colleges nationwide, she notes that NEET-qualified candidates often have no choice but to attend private colleges once government seats are filled.

Sahai also advocates for restructuring or dissolving the NTA to enhance transparency and proposes a Pan-India, single-day online exam using advanced technologies like AI. Additionally, she suggests conducting the NEET exam twice a year and introducing a multi-tiered structure similar to the JEE or UPSC exams.

Pradeep Rawat, founder of the Parents Association in Gurgaon, emphasizes the need to increase the number of seats in government colleges to prevent students from turning to private institutions. He argues that scrapping NEET is not a viable solution and that the government should focus on developing a robust exam mechanism to ensure cheating-free exams. Rawat also highlights the problematic role of coaching centers, accusing them of involvement in paper leaks and misleading advertisements about toppers. He calls for the government to dismantle the nexus of coaching centers to maintain the integrity of the examination process.

The introduction of NEET has significantly disrupted the practice of charging capitation fees in private medical colleges, promoting a more merit-based and transparent admission process. Despite ongoing challenges and some private colleges finding loopholes, NEET has made considerable strides towards eliminating capitation fees and reforming medical education in India.