Career News

Medical Entrance Examination

The Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad, informed in the Rajy Sabha on 13 December, that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Examination only for 15 per cent seats in the Government Medical/Dental Colleges in the country and candidates can opt for question paper either in English or in Hindi. For the remaining 85 per cent seats, the States conduct their own entrance examination and have the liberty to conduct it in their respective regional languages and, as such, there is no ban on use of regional languages as a medium for medical entrance examination

The Supreme Court, in Simran Jain case, has accepted the proposal of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to conduct common entrance test viz. National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to Under Graduate (UG) and Post Graduate (PG) medical courses in the country and directed the Council to take such steps as are necessary to implement the NEET. Accordingly, the Central Government has constituted a Committee to finalize the modalities for implementation of NEET

A few State Governments have expressed apprehensions about the proposed NEET inter alia relating to medium of the test. The Central Board of Secondary Education, which is the agency for conducting NEET for UG, has constituted an Advisory Committee consisting of Members from States to address the issues of admission processes prevalent in various States like reservation, medium of test, etc. 

Establishment of National Commission for Human Resources for Health

The Central Government had proposed to set up National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development for higher education and the National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare as an overarching regulatory body for medical education and allied health sciences with a dual purpose of reforming the current regulatory framework and enhancing the supply of skilled manpower in the health sector.

The proposed Commission would subsume the existing councils viz., Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Nursing Council of India and Pharmacy Council of India. After consultations with the stakeholders, a draft Cabinet Note and Bill are being finalized for further necessary action.

The proposed NCHRH would also constitute a National Board for Health Education (NBHE) and a National Evaluation and Assessment Committee (NEAC) with a mandate to prescribe minimum standards for health education and developing and maintaining system of accreditation of health educational institutes respectively.

 Apart from this, National Councils have also been proposed to be set up under NCHRH to inter-alia ensure ethical standards among medical professionals. 

CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Scheme

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), an ensemble of 37 state-of-the-art institutes, is amongst the foremost scientific and industrial research organizations in India. Over the years, this unique organization has helped India usher in a scientific milieu, creating and nurturing talent in a wide variety of S&T domains, spawned many organizations, many disciplines and most importantly has served as a nursery and training ground for most of India‟s talented scientists and technologists. CSIR annually publishes over 3800 papers in science journals and holds over 3000 patents.

This Fellowship Scheme  has been instituted to identify promising young researchers with innovative ideas and provide them with training and research opportunities in niche areas of basic science, engineering, medicine and agriculture. The scheme aims at facilitating their transition from mentored to independent research career.

CSIR intends to offer one hundred (100) such fellowships every year to promising fresh PhD holders for working in CSIR laboratories with state-of-art R&D facilities. Eligibility: PhD degree holders within three years of award of PhD degree, or those who have submitted PhD theses. Applicants who are about to submit thesis are also eligible to apply, but their selection will be subject to the condition that they would have submitted thesis before the expiry of the validity of the award offer. Applicants should have research publications in high impact SCI journals.

Though CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral Research Fellowship is open to Indian nationals, Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), a certain number (up to 20%) of fellowships may be offered to foreign nationals.

Maximum Age Limit: 32 years, relaxable upto 5 years in case of SC/ST/OBC/Physically handicapped and women candidates.

Tenure: Two years and extendable for maximum one more year based on outstanding performance and recommendation from the Director of the CSIR lab where working.

Remuneration: CSIR Nehru Science Postdoctoral Fellows will be paid a consolidated fellowship of Indian Rs. 35,000/- per month plus House Rent Allowance (HRA) as admissible and a contingency grant of Rs. 3.0 lakh per annum. 25% of the contingency grant can be used for domestic and international travel including per diem expenses.

Mode of selection: Eligible candidates can apply in the prescribed format, available on the website www.csirhrdg.res.in, any time of the year. However, the selections will be made twice a year, in the months of June and December. Applications received two months before the scheduled interview date will be considered for short listing and calling for interview. Eligible candidates must route their applications through the sponsoring CSIR laboratory.

Selections to the “CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral Research Fellowships” will be made based on the presentation of the proposed research project followed by interview of short listed candidates by specially constituted Committees. Applicants from abroad may also be considered in absentia, if eligible. Selection of foreign nationals will be subjected to clearance by ISTADS, CSIR.

Other benefits: Accommodation may be provided by CSIR laboratories if available. CSIR rules on leased accommodation are being reviewed in the light of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and will be made applicable as and when approved. CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral Fellows will be entitled for Medical benefits as per the CSIR rules for Research Associates.

Other relevant information: (i) Candidates who have worked for their PhD from a particular CSIR laboratory will not be eligible for becoming a PDF in the same CSIR laboratory under this scheme. (ii) 20% of the fellowship amount will be paid as lump sum at the end of completion of 1st and 2nd year, respectively. (iii) Selected candidates are expected to join within four months of effective date of award.

All other rules and regulations will be as applicable to CSIR Research Associates (can be seen at www.csirhrdg.res.in). Further, in all matters, the decision of CSIR shall be final. List of CSIR laboratories and their R&D activities can be seen at www.csir.res.in.. For more information visit the website of the individual laboratory.

Applications duly filled in the prescribed format and complete in all respect should be sent to: Ms Sushila Khilnani, Scientist-G, Human Resource Development Group, CSIR Complex,Library Avenue,Pusa, New Delhi-110012.Email : skhilnani@csirhrdg.res.in. Tel: 011-25846077. “Application for CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral Research Fellowship” should clearly be written on top of the envelope containing application form.