Upper age limit for appearing in the undergraduate medical entrance exam, NEET-UG, has been removed
for all candidates, the National Medical Commission, the top regulatory body of medical education in the country, has said. Earlier, the age limit was 25 years for general category candidates and 30 years in the case of reserved category candidates.
The decision was taken in the fourth NMC meeting held in October last year, Dr Pulkesh Kumar, Secretary of the commission said. In a letter addressed to
the National Testing Agency (NTA), Dr Kumar has asked
the agency to remove the maximum age criteria from the information bulletin of NEET UG. “It has been decided in the 4th NMC meeting that…there should not be any fixed upper age limit for appearing in the NET UG examination.
Therefore, the information bulletin may be modified
accordingly,” Dr Kumar said. Taking it to Twitter, the
Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh
Mandaviya said, “The National Medical Commission
removes the fixed upper age limit for appearing in the
NEET-UG examination.
The decision will immensely benefit aspiring doctors and further help in strengthening medical education in the country.” NEET is the only entrance examination in India for admission to MBBS, BDS and some other allied courses.
Every year, around 15 lakh students appear for it. Last year, the test was conducted in September. The NTA is yet to announce the date and time for NEET 2022. Since last year, the test is also being used for admission to BSc Nursing and BSc Health Sciences courses.
