Careers 360 English Edition – July 2019

Medical Education Special NEET DOMICILE ROW

by Abhay Anand

O

ne of the most important reasons for introducing the
national level National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test
(NEET) was to have a ‘one-nation-one-examination’
mechanism to prevent students from spending time, money
and energy in desperately seeking admission in medical col-
leges in various states. However, NEET seems to be missing
its target due to varying domicile policies that each state
drew for itself. As per norms, 85 percent of the total seats in
the country falls under ‘State Quota’ in all government medi-
cal and dental colleges. They are reserved for candidates who
are domiciles of the state in which such a college is located.
The remaining 15 percent seats in these colleges are open for
All India candidates

Domicile ambiguity
Almost all states in the country have created their own set of
rules to protect the seats from going to non-local candidates.
These rules are also known as ‘Domicile Regulation’. Just
to give a glimpse of the ambiguity, while some states only
require students to have completed their 10th to 12th class
from that state, Gujarat also requires them to have been
residing in that state for a minimum of 10 consecutive years.
Akanksha (Case-1 given above) is a victim of this policy.
Saket Kumar, a resident of Surat in Gujarat, shares his
ordeal, saying, “I am living in Gujarat for 9 years and have
done my class 10, 11 and 12 from Gujarat. This year I gave

NEET was touted to be a ‘One-

nation-one-examination’. Skewed

state domicile regulations defeat its

very purpose, creating second-class

citizens who can’t get admission in

any state...

STATELESS

STUDENTS,

HEARTLESS

STATES

NEET exam for MBBS, but due to Gujarat’s 10-year domi-

cile rule I will not get admission in the state.”

Karnataka requires either of the candidate’s parents to be

domicile of that state to make the cut. On the contrary, Delhi

only requires a student to have completed his 12th class

education from there or one who holds a domicile certificate.

West Bengal has a different formula. It has two types of pro-

formas for domicile status of candidates who have qualified

NEET. They have to fill up either one of the two proformas

Case 1: Akanksha

NEET aspirant, Gujarat

A

kanksha is a medical aspirant from Gujarat. She

scored 579 marks in NEET 2019. Belonging to

Hyderabad, she completed her studies in Gujarat

owing to her parents’ transfer. She has done her

Class 10 and 10+2 from Gujarat. However, she is

not eligible to get a seat under the ‘state quota’ in

government medical colleges in the state as the

Gujarat domicile rules require her to be living in the

state continuously for 10 years. She is not eligible to

secure a seat in Telangana, where she resides now,

in the state quota as Telangana requires candidate

to have been living in the state for 7 years continu-

ously and completed 10+2 from the state. Akanksha

is disowned by both Gujarat and Telangana. She is

an Indian citizen.

Case 2: Rahul Mane

NEET aspirant, Maharashtra

R

ahul Mane is a NEET aspirant from Maharashtra.

Both of his parents are born in Maharashtra. They

belong to a family which has been living in Maha-

rashtra for the last 4-5 generations and also have

valid domicile caste certi

Ƽcate. Rahul’s father who

is working in a central government undertaking has

a transferable job. Rahul completed his 10th in 2016

from outside Maharashtra when eligibility condi-

tions treated him as a local. However, the rules were

changed later. The new Maharashtra eligibility rules

require a candidate to be a domicile of the state and

who has studied class 10 and 12 from the state, thus

making Rahul ineligible for a seat under state quota.

Rahul is an Indian citizen from no state.