In the wake of controversy surrounding alleged irregularities in the administration of NEET, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution on Friday urging the Union Government to abolish the exam for medical and dental course admissions by amending the National Medical Commission Act. Chief Minister M K Stalin introduced the resolution, which was supported by members of the ruling alliance and the PMK but boycotted by the BJP. The resolution also pressed the Union Government to approve a 2022 Bill from the Tamil Nadu Assembly seeking exemption from NEET for the state’s students.
NEET has been a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu, where approximately two dozen students have committed suicide since the exam’s introduction in 2017 due to either fear of taking the exam or failure to pass it. The state assembly had previously passed bills in 2017 and 2021 requesting exemption from NEET; the former, initiated by the AIADMK government, was rejected by the Union Government. The 2021 bill, based on recommendations from a panel led by retired Justice A K Rajan, was sent back by Governor R N Ravi in 2022 but was re-adopted by the Assembly and is currently pending with the Union Government.
The resolution stated that NEET negatively impacts students from rural areas, hindering their access to medical education and undermining the rights of state governments to admit students to medical colleges. It called for the Union Government to amend the National Medical Commission Act to eliminate NEET nationwide.
In his address to the Assembly, Stalin argued that the previous admission model based on plus-two marks allowed students from various parts of the state to pursue medical careers, thereby enhancing medical services across Tamil Nadu. He criticized NEET, introduced in 2017, for making medical education unaffordable for poor students and disadvantaging rural students who lack access to coaching classes, ultimately affecting rural medical services.
Stalin also highlighted recent incidents undermining confidence in the exam, such as allegations of question paper leaks and over 1,000 students receiving “grace marks,” which led to the dismissal of the National Testing Agency head and a Supreme Court-mandated CBI investigation. The Union Government subsequently canceled the PG NEET exams.
Stalin noted that the calls from other states to abolish NEET echo Tamil Nadu’s long-standing opposition, citing letters from opposition leaders in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the exam.
