In a relief for the students who fail to secure admission to MBBS in the first attempt and settle for some other course, the Gujarat government today said such students can get into the MBBS course if they get the required score in the `second trial' of the NEET.
 

The norms were changed to give a second chance to "bright students" who want to pursue MBBS but fail to do well in their first trial of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said. Several students can not secure admission to the MBBS course in the first trial for various reasons, such as a death in the family or illness at the time of NEET, he said. "As a result, such bright students have to settle for other streams, such as Homoeopathy or Ayurveda," he said.

As per the existing rules, such students could not switch over to another branch of medicine once getting admission after the first trial, he said. "We have decided to change this rule. Now, students admitted into other medical streams can shift to MBBS by appearing again for the NEET, provided they get required merit in the second trial," said Patel, who also handles the Medical Education portfolio. The student, however, will have to pay all the remaining fee of his/her existing course.

In another modification of medical admission rules, students who have the OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) card can now apply in the  general quota, instead of only the NRI quota as mandated earlier. Several Gujarati-origin parents, settled in foreign countries, send children to India for schooling, Patel said. "Though they are born in foreign countries, such students live here with their relatives and even pass their 10th and 12th Board exams here. As per the present rule, such students, having OCI card, need to apply only under the NRI quota of a medical college," he said. "We have decided to change this rule. We will now allow such students to apply in the general quota too, provided they have passed their Board exams in Gujarat and have a domicile certificate," he said.