After Jaya, more CMs attack entrance test

NEW DELHI:  As if taking a cue from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who was the first to write to the PM against the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) decision to hold a common entrance test (CET), more chief ministers are now opposing the CET.The MCI had decided to hold a common entrance test (CET), to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), from next year for admitting students to the 35,000-odd MBBS seats across the country.  The Supreme Court too has given an order in favour of MCI on the issue, earlier this week.The latest to join the war of letters is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She has written to Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad expressing the State government’s unwillingness to admit students through the CET. She has also decided to send a team comprising the Health Secretary to the Health Ministry to register her complaint. They will also be meeting the MCI officials to make their point. Not to say, the Health Ministry is quite worried.“With Mamata Banerjee also opposing the decision, the higher-ups in the Ministry are  quite perturbed. The government will not do anything which Madam Banerjee will not like, at this juncture,” said an official with the Ministry.Before Mamata, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had written to the Health Minister protesting the move.He had said that the ‘imposition’ of the compulsory test ‘without ministerial-level consultations’ was ‘violation of federalism’ and called it ‘overcentralisation’. It was also stated that the plan to take the test in only English and Hindi (but not in Gujarati) shows ‘insensitivity toward other cultures and languages’.