Separate entrance for AYUSH in UP, Admission not through NEET
2017-07-28While the government of Uttar Pradesh had announced on July 7th 2017 that admissions to AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and naturopathy, Yunani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) will be based on merit list prepared as per NEET 2017, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court has overturned this decision.
The Court has now directed the UP State Government to hold Common Entrance Test for AYUSH Admissions and complete the admission process by September 30th 2017.
This decision comes in connection with the writ petition filed by Amit Kumar and others in the Allahabad High Court challenging the UP government’s decision as the it was not announced at the time of NEET 2017 application process this year.
"The State Government has chosen to make admission to these courses on the basis of NEET which has taken many students desirous of taking admission to AYUSH undergraduate courses by surprise." said the Lucknow bench. It further added "It has also resulted in denial of fundamental right of their participation in entrance test for the reason that many students might not have made their applications pursuant to the advertisement issued for NEET for the reason that it was never ever made known to them that admission to AYUSH under graduate courses shall be made through NEET even for the academic session 2017-2018."
In June 2017, the Ministry of AYUSH had decided to standardize the admissions process and attract meritorious students to AYUSH stream by conducting admissions to AYUSH UG courses via merit list based on National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) from the next academic session i.e. 2018-19. However in July first week, the UP government announced that for this year’s AYUSH admissions merit list will be based on NEET 2017.
The Court’s order is a big relief for AYUSH aspirants who did not attempt NEET 2017 as they can now apply for Common Entrance Exam (CET) for admissions in AYUSH UG courses in various institutions in the state of Uttar Pradesh.