A previous attempt by the government to fix an attempt limit for medical aspirants in 2016 had been rolled back after protests from the students but the withdrawal of upper age limit comes years later during which students have been fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court.
The National Medical Commission, on March 9, announced that there will not be any fixed upper age limit for appearing in the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test, the entrance test for admission into medical colleges across India.
As of now too, students of any age are permitted to appear in NEET but this is only a result of an interim relief granted the Supreme Court after a group of students had challenged a government decision to fix the upper age limit for the general category students at 25 years and reserve category students at 30 years six years back.
The Court had said that till the final disposal of the ongoing case, the age limit criteria will not apply and had sought to know the NMC’s stand on the matter.