The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test medical entrance test for academic year 2017-18 will be conducted in eight languages, the government of India said.
The decision was taken by the government after consultations with State Governments.
The eight languages are Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu and Tamil.
The language will not impact the candidate’s all India rank.
“In addition to this, the candidate qualifying NEET will be eligible for All India quota and other quotas under the State governments/Institutes irrespective of the medium in which exam is taken by the candidate, said the government,” the government said.
The decision is to bring parity for the students who have taken the State Board exams, the government said.
NEET and its implementation in regional languages is the outcome of Governments commitment of bringing about transparency in medical education and removing malpractices, it added.
State government schools tend to emphasize local languages over English, and many students who come out of such schools find themselves disadvantaged in English-medium tests.