'Abolish NEET or approve the bill passed in Tamil Nadu Assembly', DMK MP demands

In this regard, DMK Rajya Sabha member P Wilson on Tuesday urged the central government to abolish the NEET medical entrance exam or facilitate passage of the Tamil Nadu NEET Exemption Bill so that the State may be kept out of this competitive exam. He made this appeal in the upper house of Parliament at a time when there was a controversy over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical courses.

He participated in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address in the Rajya Sabha. "The state assembly passed a bill in 2021 allowing admission to medical courses without NEET and later adopted a unanimous resolution against the exam and to remove the threat of NEET," he said, adding that almost three years passed since then, but it is pending with the Centre for approval, keeping the students and their parents in anxiety.

He said they wanted the Prime Minister to take immediate notice or approve the bill passed by the state government or amend the National Medical Commission Act to abolish NEET and the examination system at the national level. About 23.33 lakh students had appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 exam. Cases have been filed in the Supreme Court over alleged irregularities, including question paper leaks. The case is under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The probing agency had registered an FIR on June 23 in connection with alleged irregularities in the examination held on May 5 following a recommendation in this regard by the Union Education Ministry. The DMK leader criticized the delay in ordering a CBI probe and claimed it would have allowed cheaters to tamper with documents and destroy evidence. Mr Wilson also expressed concern over how the National Examination Agency conducted competitive exams, including NEET.