The Indian Nursing Council (INC) has decided that the Union Territory Puducherry will be exempted from conducting the Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission of students into the BSc nursing course, introduced by the council this academic year 2023-24, according to The New Indian Express.
The INC after deliberating with the Health Secretary has stated that they have come to an agreement regarding the Secretary's request for exemption from conducting the common entrance examination for admission in BSc (N) for the academic year 2023-24 as a one-time measure on the basis of his request for the UT only. Following this, the Health Department would not conduct CET for colleges including government, private and deemed coming under the purview of UT of Puducherry.
How will the admissions be conducted?
The admissions would be based on the existing pattern, which is, based on marks secured in the higher secondary examination. There are 970 seats in BSc Nursing in 13 nursing colleges of the UT. Among them, only one nursing college, Mother Theresa Post Graduate Research Institute of Health Sciences, is under the government sector offering 80 seats.
Eight are in the private sector and four others are deemed universities offering the remaining seats. The INC has already specified that from next year onwards, the admissions to BSc nursing courses will be conducted via CET.
Medical mayhem
Meanwhile, medical aspirants who have qualified National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) are eagerly waiting for the Commission to grant recognition to India Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMCRI) for commencement of admissions through CENTAC (Centralised Admission Committee) after the recognition was withdrawn by National Medical Commission (NMC) in May this year.
The college with a capacity of 150 MBBS seats has already rectified the deficiencies pointed out by the Undergraduate Board of Medical Education, under the National Medical Commission and has also interacted with them through video conferencing.
Director of the Medical College Dr C Udhayshankar has reportedly said that the college authorities have been given assurance in principle and are waiting for their response.
