CBSE NEET result 2017: Central Board of Secondary Education tells court that vernacular papers not easier than English; wants results soon

The Central Board of Secondary Education on Tuesday has opposed in the Madras High Court saying that NEET 2017 Question papers for admission to MBBS and BDS courses were easier than the papers in English. NEET Results 2017 had been delayed and should be declared soon, the Board said.

CBSE has rejected the contention that question papers in vernacular languages such as Gujarati were easier compared to English after
Justice M V Muralidharan had on May 24 stayed declaration of the NEET results and directed officials of the Medical Council of India, the CBSE director and the Union health ministry to file their counter affidavits.

Union health and family welfare secretary, director-general health services, New Delhi, Medical Council of India (MCI), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Tamil Nadu health and family welfare secretary were asked by the judge to file their replies by June 7.

The court had on Tuesday sought the English translation of Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi question papers of the NEET.
On May 7, over 11.35 lakh students appeared for the CBSE NEET exams 2017 across the country. 88,000 candidates had registered for NEET in

Tamil Nadu, while more than 84,000 took the test. CBSE was forced to stop evaluation of answer sheers following the court’s order. Also, the answer keys were not declared as per schedule on May 30.

There are 24 government-run colleges and equal number of private colleges in Tamil Nadu. The counselling sessions will start only by the month-end even if the CBSE NEET Results 2017 are announced in mid-June. 

"The first concern for many of us is whether students will first secure the required mark to make it to the colleges. Without knowing that, we have had to apply for other colleges to keep options open. But even colleges have a deadline and will not reserve seats. Only when we get clarity on results can we move ahead," R Geeta, a parent was quoted as saying by TOI.

The Supreme Court had in April 2016 made NEET mandatory for admissions to all medical and dental colleges. CBSE had conducted the examination across the country on behalf of the medical and dental councils of India on May 7.