NEET should be abolished, fill seats in medical colleges on class 12 marks, says Tamil Nadu CM Vijay

Chennai: Continuing with the stand taken by his predecessors, Tamil Nadu’s new chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday demanded that NEET examination to be dispensed with and state governments are allowed to fill seats in medical and dental colleges on the basis of Class 12 marks of students.

In a statement, Vijay said the cancellation of the NEET exam by the National Testing Agency has shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country and recalled that this was not the first time NEET has been compromised.

Vijay regretted that another paper leak has taken even place after 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. This is conclusive proof of flaws and structural flaws in a national level exam. The Governments of Tamil Nadu, has been consistently and unanimously opposing NEET since its very inception,” he added.

Vijay said 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's long pending demand to abolish NEET and permit the States to fill all seats under the state quotain MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses on the basis of Class 12 marks,” the Chief Minister added.

NEET is a highly emotive issue in Tamil Nadu with over two dozen children taking the extreme step of ending their lives for the fear of appearing for the exam or cracking it.

The Tamil Nadu government had in 2017 and 2021 under the AIADMK and DMK government respectively passed two bills demanding exemption from NEET for students from the state, but they were rejected by the Union Government.