Bhubaneswar, Jan. 25: After much hue and cry, the Centre has finally given its nod to the state governments' proposal to conduct the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for undergraduate medical admissions (NEET-UG) in Odia and other select regional languages.

The dates for the applications for the entrance scheduled in December had to be postponed by the Central Board of Secondary Education after there were demands for inclusion of more languages options from various states.

Both chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan had written to the Centre demanding inclusion of Odia in the test.

Anant Senapati, a Class-XII student who is aspiring to appear for the entrance test, said the new rule hardly made any difference to him. "We are being taught in English and will appear for the test in English. I am yet to meet a fellow student who prepares for the medical entrance in Odia. So, I don't think it really matters to the majority of us," he said.

"However, it has to be seen how many students chose to take the exam in Odia," said Jaipal Guru, an educator.

"I believe Odia students are more capable of competing for the seats by writing the exam in English. Moreover, in a competitive exam, such as the medical entrance, language is not as important as knowledge in the subject," Sujata Mahakud, a teacher at a coaching institute.

The move, on the other hand, has been welcomed by a section of people who had been championing the cause.

"Students of Odisha, who have studied in Odia, used to be at a great disadvantage. Students of English-medium schools had a competitive edge over those who studied in Odia medium. Unless we implement the rule, how will we know if our state board students prefer Odia option at all? What is the harm in having an alternate option?" asked Mahendra Rath, who has been campaigning for inclusion of the Odia option on various social media.

The information on inclusion of Odia language has been conveyed to the state government through a videoconference between the state health department officials and the Union ministry of health. Along with Odia, Kannada has also been included in the list taking the number of regional language options at the national-level test to eight, apart from Hindi and English.

"Students willing to take the test in Odia will have to mention this while filling up their application forms," said a government official.