The central government is unlikely to accept the demand by the Opposition parties and some state governments for decentralising the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) by giving back the powers to the states to decide their admission procedure to medical courses.

Minister of state for health, Anupriya Patel, on Tuesday evaded a question by Trinamool Congress member Sagarika Ghosh in the Rajya Sabha on the government’s stand on discontinuing the centralised test, which was vitiated by paper leaks and irregularities this year.

During Question Hour, Ghosh wanted to know if the government was considering any proposal to decentralise the NEET. The state authorities will be able to handle the entrance exam better than the National Testing Agency (NTA), she said.

“Prior to the common (medical entrance) exam, students had to appear for multiple exams which had different syllabuses and different paper formats. To overcome the hardship of the students, the uniform entrance exam was introduced. In so far as decentralisation of exams is concerned, I will pass on the suggestion of the member to the education minister,” Patel said.

A government official said that the health ministry was the administrative agency to make policy decisions on the NEET and the NTA is part of the ministry of education (MoE). Neither the MoE nor the NTA takes decisions on the pattern, syllabus or mode of the NEET.

NTA silence

Amid the delay in the declaration of results of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), the government on Tuesday refused to disclose if the NTA had signed any agreement with the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the conduct of the test.

The NTA has been conducting the CUET-UG and the CUET-PG since 2022.

CPI(ML) member in the Lok Sabha, Sudama Prasad, on Monday wanted to know whether the NTA had signed an MoU with the UGC for the conduct of the CUET-UG and the CUET-PG for the period 2017-2024 and if the NTA had rules on the appointment of paper setters.

In a written reply, minister of state for education, Sukanta Majumdar, said the CUET was conducted in 2022-23 to reduce the burden on students, universities and the entire education system in pursuance of the National Education Policy. The NTA engages paper setters, moderators and secrecy officers as per established guidelines, he said.