New Delhi, Mar 23 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Centre on a plea against a rule which makes the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) mandatory for admission to homeopathy courses.

Issuing notice to respondents -- the Ayush Ministry, the National Commission for Homoeopathy, the National Testing Agency, and others, a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla slated further hearing on the matter on March 30.

The plea, filed by a group of homeopathic colleges, contended that the nature of the courses -- modern scientific medicine and homeopathy are poles apart and subjects taught in these courses are distinct from each other.

It also challenged the legality of Section 14 of the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2020 and Information Bulletin NEET (UG) issued last year.

In a related plea on per centile criteria of NEET, the High Court last week had observed that there is a dearth of doctors, whether MBBS or specialists. Further, it observed that people have to go to places like Ukraine because of this situation.The score corresponding to the NEET percentile varies each year depending on the number of students to qualify and the seats available. SC, ST, and OBC students have to score within the 40th percentile, while general category students must score within the 50th percentile.