Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday informed that 43 new centres will be added for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
“43 new centres granted for #NEET2018 exam. For the first time NEET exam would be conducted in 150 cities. In 2017 NEET exam was conducted in 107 cities,” tweeted Javadekar.
While NEET is scheduled to be conducted on May 6, the exam is conducted for admission to MBBS/BDS courses in India in medical/dental colleges run with the approval of the Medical Council of India (MCI)/ Dental Council of India.
However, the health ministry has made NEET mandatory for even those who wish to pursue medical courses in foreign universities.
NEET was introduced in 2016 for admission to government and private medical colleges in India.
"It has come to notice that medical institutions/ universities of foreign countries admit Indian students without proper assessment or screening of the students' academic ability to cope up with medical education with the result that many students fail to qualify the screening test.
"In this regard, the proposal of Medical Council of India (MCI) to amend the Screening Test Regulations, 2002, making it mandatory to qualify NEET to pursue foreign medical course has been approved by this ministry," according to an official statement.