As other states began admitting medical students this summer, Anitha and her peers in Tamil Nadu remained on tenterhooks. Eventually, on August 22, the apex court directed the state to complete all medical admissions according to the NEET results by September 4. The Centre, many of whose ministers had promised to help the state secure the exemption again, was under the cosh too. This year, Tamil Nadu had reserved 85 per cent of its medical seats for state board students - a back-up plan in case it failed to secure full exemption from the NEET in court again. But she had secured only 86 out of 700 in the NEET, conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, whose syllabus differs vastly from that taught by the state board.

Source: The Telegraph September 01, 2017 20:50 UTC