Tamil Nadu’s Health and Family Welfare department has said it is facing difficulty in extending mental health counselling to NEET candidates as the state has not yet received candidate details from the National Testing Agency (NTA).
NEET is the qualifying entrance test for admissions to medical courses such as MBBS and BDS across India. This year, the exam was held, cancelled due to a question paper leak, and later conducted again as a re-test.
In Tamil Nadu, about 1.08 lakh candidates appeared for the re-test and 61,306 qualified. The state typically offers counselling support each year to students who score low or fail to qualify, and students and parents can also seek help through the helplines 14416 and 104.
Although the NEET results were released on July 16, officials said the NTA has not shared the broader candidate list with the state so far. They added that the department currently has only the details and mobile numbers of 12,600 students from government and aided schools, and around 5,000 of them have responded to outreach calls.
Officials said counselling will be expanded to all candidates once the remaining details are received.
