The NEET exam system must be abolished, urges Chief Minister Vijay
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday urged the Narendra Modi-led central government to abolish NEET based admissions in medical courses and allow the respective states to fill up seats based on class 12 marks.
His remarks follow the National Testing Agency’s decision to cancel the May 3 NEET-UG examination 2026 over alleged paper leak.
Vijay said the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG examination has “shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country.”
Noting that this is not the first instance of the NEET exam being cancelled over paper leak concerns, the newly elected Tamil Nadu CM alleged “structural flaws” in the national level exam.
“In 2024, the question paper was leaked and FIRs were registered across six States and transferred to the CBI. Pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court, the Union Government constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts under Dr K Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of ISRO, which 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,” he said.
Vijay said that the Tamil Nadu government has been consistently opposing NEET since its very inception as the system has “severely disadvantaged” 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.