With widespread irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) that have come to the fore recently giving spotlight to Tamil Nadu’s sustained opposition to the medical entrance exam, the State Legislative Assembly on Friday, June 28, 2024, unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to “immediately approve of T.N.’s NEET exemption bill” and “make necessary amendments to the National Medical Commission Act” in order to abolish NEET at the national level.
While the BJP’s MLAs staged a walkout, the DMK’s allies, Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI (M), MDMK, MLAs T. Velmurugan, M.H. Jawahirullah, Manoj P. Pandian and the BJP’s ally, PMK, supported the resolution in the floor of the State Assembly.
Delivering a speech while proposing the resolution, Chief Minister Stalin said that while the admission system based on marks obtained in class 12 had ensured social justice and equal opportunities for students hailing from various sections of the society, enabling doctors to emerge from every part of the State, NEET has been marred with many irregularities including an unprecedented number of students scoring full marks, exams being delayed and as a result, grace marks being awarded in a manner not outlined in the rules, and reports of the question paper being leaked before the exam in various centers.
“Various allegations of corruption, including invigilators filling in answer sheets at the exam centers, have left students and their families, who have worked hard and spent a lot over many years to prepare for these competitive exams, in shock. The Union government, which initially denied these allegations, saying that no mistakes had occurred, replaced the head of the NTA (National Testing Agency) that conducts the exam, only after being reprimanded by the Supreme Court. A CBI inquiry has been ordered to investigate the allegations of exam malpractices. The entrance exam for postgraduate medical courses has also been cancelled,” he observed.
CM Stalin pointed out that while Tamil Nadu and its people have been “fighting alone against NEET” for many years, the opposition to NEET has now gained momentum in various States who have realised the problems caused by it.
“West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has written a letter to the Prime Minister stating that the old system in which State governments decided on admissions to medical courses should be reinstated. Many leaders, including the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, and Leader of the Opposition in Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, have written letters asking for the cancellation of NEET,” he said.
CM Stalin said that Tamil Nadu has been pioneer in India in the field of medicine and in various indicators of public health due to its admission system. “Based on the recommendations of the committee headed by Dr. Ananthakrishnan, the entrance exams for all professional courses, including medicine were abolished by Kalaignar (former CM M. Karunanidhi) who laid the foundation for these achievements,” he said.
Mr. Stalin added, “However, after the Union government made NEET mandatory for medical admissions in 2017, this situation has completely changed, making medical education an unattainable dream for poor and rural students. Students from rural and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, who cannot afford coaching classes, cannot succeed in this exam. Moreover, NEET will affect the medical services provided in rural and backward areas in the future.”
Mr. Stalin further said that an “unshakeable consensus” has emerged among the people of Tamil Nadu, political parties and intellectuals with regard to this issue and said this consensus andthe recommendations of retired Justice A.K. Rajan were the reason behind the unanimous passage of the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Courses Act, 2021, in the Assembly in September, 2021.
“However, despite the long legal struggle for this, the Honorable Governor did not grant approval to the Bill and sent it back for reconsideration. In this situation, under my leadership, an all-party meeting was held on February 5, 2022, and a resolution was unanimously passed to reintroduce this bill in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. The bill was reintroduced and passed again on February 8, 2022. It was then sent to the Union government by the Governor for the assent of the President of India. Despite the Tamil Nadu government providing timely and appropriate responses to all clarifications requested by the Union government, the approval to the Bill is still being delayed,” he pointed out.
