The Tamil Nadu assembly on Friday adopted a resolution urging the Union government to abolish the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), amend the National Medical Commission Act and revert to the previous system of state-based medical admissions using Class 12 marks, amid protests across the country over allegations of irregularities and paper leaks in this year’s medical entrance examination.
The resolution, adopted by the House amid protest and walkout by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, garnered support from the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), its allies Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Left parties, as well as NDA constituent Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). The principal opposition, AIADMK, was not present in the House as all the members were suspended for the brief session concluding on June 29 for disrupting the House over the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy incident.
Tabling the bill, DMK chief Stalin argued that the previous method of admissions helped medical aspirants from every part of the state become doctors. “But introduction of NEET in 2017 has made medical education unaffordable for poor students,” he said.
He added: “Rural students who can’t attend coaching classes won’t be able to crack the test. Moreover, this will impact the medical services provided in rural areas. It is only after considering these problems, the DMK was steadfast in its opposition to NEET.”
The resolution said: “NEET, which affects the opportunities of students from rural areas in accessing medical education and snatches the rights of state governments to admit students in medical colleges, should be scrapped. The Union Government should approve the bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly seeking exemption for the state.”
It added: “In the backdrop of several states opposing the exam, this House unanimously resolves that the Union government should amend the National Medical Commission Act so that NEET is scrapped for the entire country.”
The BJP, however, has maintained that “we need NEET”.
“When the DMK knows that it is not possible to scrap the exam, why are they repeatedly tabling a resolution?” BJP floor leader Nainar Nagendran asked after walking out of the assembly.
He added: “Even in Class 12 exams, we have heard of irregularities but does that mean we do away with the exam all together? We need NEET.”
The resolution comes amid a simmering controversy across the country regarding leak of question papers for the medical college screening test NEET and the research fellowships qualifier examination UGC-NET, but also extends to wider logistical issues and cancellations.
The controversy began with this year’s NEET-UG — qualifier for getting admissions to MBBS courses — after allegations surfaced that in one centre in Rajasthan, students appearing for the Hindi medium test got question papers in English amid reports of torn OMR sheets and delay in distribution of question papers. A case was also lodged in Patna, Bihar, over an alleged paper leak, after which the police arrested 18 people involved in solving question papers and supplying answers as part of a racket. A total of 2.4 million students took the NEET-UG exam at 4,750 centres across 571 cities on May 5.
For weeks, protests swept across India after NEET results were declared and showed inflated marking and arbitrary allowance of grace marks. The Supreme Court, which allowed NTA to withdraw grace marks to 1,563 students and conduct a retest for them on June 23, is set to hear a raft of petitions on the issue on July 8.
Then, on June 19, the education ministry postponed the UGC-NET examination, for which 908,580 candidates were set to appear at 1,200 centres. The next day, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the agency that tracks cyber crime for the Union home ministry informed UGC that a specific question paper of UGC-NET set was leaked on the darknet. On June 21, the ministry postponed the joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) UGC-NET exam as well.
NEET is specifically an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu with more than a dozen students dying by suicide either because they failed the exam or due to the fear of failure ever since 2017, when it was mandated. The state assembly has passed two bills seeking exemption from NEET for Tamil Nadu — the AIADMK in 2017 and the DMK in 2021.
The 2021 bill was backed by a recommendation from a panel headed by retired Justice AK Rajan. However, Governor RN Ravi returned the bill to the assembly in 2022. The House had immediately readopted the bill, so the Governor, by rule, had to forward it to the President of India for its assent.
News / India News / Tamil Nadu passes resolution urging Union government to abolish NEET
