CONDUCT NEET IN URDU ALSO, SAYS SC
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Centre to permit students to write their National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test — single window test for all medical colleges — in Urdu. A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also agreed to hear the petitioner on whose demand it directed inclusion of Urdu as an additional language for NEET that the NDA government deliberately discriminated as the language of Muslim community. Students Islamic Organization claimed that though Kannada and Oriya students have been allowed to write their exam in their local language this year, government discriminated Urdu students only because it was a language of Muslim community. The court warned of “serious consequences”, if it failed to justify the allegations.
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Centre to permit students to write their National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) — single window test for all medical colleges — in Urdu.
A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also agreed to hear the petitioner on whose demand it directed inclusion of Urdu as an additional language for NEET that the NDA government deliberately discriminated as the language of Muslim community.
Students Islamic Organization (SIO) claimed that though Kannada and Oriya students have been allowed to write their exam in their local language this year, government discriminated Urdu students only because it was a language of Muslim community.
The court warned of “serious consequences”, if it failed to justify the allegations.
“There are very serious allegations that the entire government servants are working against the community. Withdraw the allegations or you may have to face the consequences,” the bench also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and M Santanagoudar told SIO’s counsel, advocate Ravindra S Garia.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar also took exception to the petitoner’s affidavit. When the lawyer refused to accept the bench’s suggestion, the bench said it would hear his contentions in July. Under NEET, made mandatory subsequent to last year’s SC verdict, students can write the exams only in English, Hindi or eight other regional languagesTelugu, Assamese, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada and Oriya.
SIO said Kannada, Oriya and Urdu students had requested for including these languages before the cut-off date (for such request) of January 16, 2017 for this year’s NEET. But, the government acceded to the request for inclusion of Kannada and Oriya, but not Urdu.