SC Directs Inclusion of Urdu for NEET

New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed the Union government to include Urdu among the medium of examination for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions into Medical colleges across the country. However, it will not be possible for Urdu to be included this year for the NEET to be held on May 7. The SC directive was issued in a judgment by the apex court in the first week of April in a petition filed by the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) of India. The SIO had contended in its affidavit that Urdu has the sixth largest body of speakers in India (if statistics pertaining to linguistically divided population are concerned) and deserved to be a medium of examination. It had argued that when languages which have lesser number of speakers such as Gujarati and Kannada could be the medium of entrance, why Urdu should be excluded. The bench that delivered the judgment had Justices Dipak Misra, A. M. Khanwilkar, and M. M. Shantanagoudar.