Vijay Renews Call To Scrap NEET After Fresh Exam Leak Controversy

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has renewed the state’s demand for the abolition of NEET after fresh controversy surrounding alleged paper leaks in the national medical entrance examination, urging the Centre to allow states to admit students to medical courses based on Class 12 marks instead.

According to NDTV, Vijay said the latest developments showed that the examination continued to suffer from deep structural problems and pointed out that this was not the first time NEET had been compromised.

In a statement posted on social media platform X on Wednesday, the Chief Minister referred to the 2024 paper leak case in which FIRs were registered across six states before the matter was transferred to the CBI.

“In 2024, the question paper was leaked and FIRs were registered across six States and transferred to the CBI... a high-level Committee of Experts under Dr K Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of ISRO, submitted 95 comprehensive recommendations for reforms. Despite all this, within two years, another paper leak has occurred and the examination has been cancelled,” read the statement that suggested that this was “conclusive proof of flaws and structural flaws in a national level exam”.

Reported NDTV, Vijay also reiterated Tamil Nadu’s long-standing opposition to NEET, arguing that the examination disadvantages students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil-medium backgrounds and economically weaker families.

“The Governments of Tamil Nadu, has been consistently and unanimously opposing NEET since its very inception. The introduction of NEET has severely disadvantaged the students from rural areas, Government schools, Tamil medium backgrounds, and socio-economically disadvantaged families. The Government of Tamil Nadu reiterates the State long pending demand to abolish NEET and permit the States to fill all seats under the State quota in MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses on the basis of Class 12 marks,” he added.

Tamil Nadu has opposed NEET since the examination was introduced, maintaining that the all-India test favours affluent, urban and English-educated students while excluding deserving candidates from underprivileged and vernacular-medium backgrounds.

NDTV reported that the state government approached the Supreme Court in November last year after the President withheld assent to Tamil Nadu’s NEET Exemption Bill. The legislation, passed unanimously in the state assembly, sought to restore medical admissions based on Class 12 marks.

During the UPA government’s tenure, former President APJ Abdul Kalam had granted Tamil Nadu exemption from entrance tests for medical admissions, allowing the state to adopt a Class 12-based admission system aimed at rewarding consistent academic performance instead of relying on a single examination.

However, NEET was made mandatory nationwide in 2017 by the Central government, following which Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court challenging the decision.

(With inputs from NDTV)