JAIPUR: Meghalaya, among 12 states, and four Union Territories have favoured making the National Exit Test (NEXT) mandatory for medical students to get the ‘doctor’ title.
Replying to an RTI query, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab have favoured NEXT. The Union Territories of Chandigarh, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar and Puducherry have also supported it.
Nine states – Assam, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand – have said there is no need for conducting NEXT.
A high-powered committee had last year proposed NEXT for MBBS students passing out of government as well as private colleges to address concerns over the standard of medical education in the country.
The move was part of wide-ranging reforms in the medical sector. (PTI)
