G. Viswanathan, founder-chancellor, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), said on Monday that the controversy over the necessity of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) can be addressed only with a manifold increase in the number of medical seats in the country.
Delivering the presidential address at the convocation of VIT Chennai on Monday, he said NEET was controversial because over 20 lakh students were aspiring for one lakh seats available. With the Russia-Ukraine war showing that around 18,000 Indian students were in Ukraine, he asked what could be the justification for sending Indian students to countries like Ukraine instead of providing them with the opportunity to study medicine in India itself.
He said the National Medical Commission (NMC) allowed only up to 150 seats at a college a year with an exception of 250 at a few. In contrast, he said, the UK and China respectively admitted 400 and 600 students a year at colleges with similar infrastructure. He said India could also triple the number of seats with the existing infrastructure.
He called for more government spending on education, especially on medical education. According to him, India’s spending of 2.9% of its GDP on education was among the lowest, with 140 countries spending more and 80 of them spending 5% or more.
Highlighting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi often talked about India becoming the world’s third largest economy, Mr. Viswanathan said increased spending on education, research and healthcare was necessary to achieve the goal.
Nagaland Governor La. Ganesan, the chief guest, appealed to the students to fill their minds with constructive thoughts and be an integral part of nation-building as the country enters the ‘Amrit Kaal’ in its journey towards the centenary year of Independence. Arguing that cybercrimes in India were increasing at an alarming rate because of unemployment, he said youngsters should aspire to become employers instead of employees.
Balu Chaturvedula, country head, India, Walmart Global Tech and an alumnus of VIT, who was the guest of honour, urged the graduands to be lifelong learners to stay ahead of the curve in a world that was rapidly changing because of technology.
Mr. Ganesan inaugurated a new 17-storey hostel block, named after Swami Vivekananda, and an eight-storey academic block, named after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on the campus.
