NEET UG 2017: Online Petition by SIO demands to include Urdu as medium of examination
An online petition on 'Inclusion of Urdu as Medium of Examination' in NEET UG 2017 filed by Student Islamic Orgnisation (SIO) addressed to Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javdekar garners support with more than 2000 signatures. The petition demands to include Urdu in NEET 2017 with other regional languages since a good amount of students chose their secondary and higher secondary education in Urdu medium across the country. NEET 2017 (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is a national level medical entrance test regulated by the CBSE Board; its scores are used for medical admission across the country.
'Urdu is one the languages listed in Schedule VIII of the Indian Constitution. Further, Urdu has also been accorded official language status in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and the national capital, New Delhi. There are a large number of students in each of these states who undertake secondary and higher secondary education, including in the science stream, in Urdu. In Maharashtra alone, in just 4 out of the 8 divisional Boards of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, the number of junior colleges in which the medium of instruction is Urdu is as high as 156. It is further submitted that the around 11000 students in Maharashtra alone study science in Urdu medium. Therefore, absence of Urdu, as a medium of examination in NEET-UG effectively exclude from one of the most important professional entrance examination of the country.' stated the petition.
The petition further quoted a Supreme Court decision, in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 168 of 2013, entitled Ansari Mahin Fatema& Ors Versus Union of India and Ors, which recognized that a large number of students, who have pursued the discipline consisting of Physics, chemistry, and Biology in the Urdu medium and such students stand to lose the opportunity to compete in this examination.
A Supreme Court order last year, made it clear that any entrance exam held nationally should be conducted in regional languages so that all students can benefit. Union Health Ministry has recently published a statement saying that NEET 2017 will be conducted in eight languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu.
Following the demand by SIO, Maharashtra Health Minister Girish Mahajan also on Wednesday wrote to the Centre demanding that NEET UG 2017 also be conducted in Urdu.