After Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, Karnataka also passed a resolution against the NEET-UG 2024 making it clear it will conduct a separate common entrance test for students. It urged the Centre to allow students from “non-NEET” states to get admission in other states.
“The NEET examination system, which severely affects medical education opportunities of poor rural students, makes schooling redundant and deprives the right of states to admit students in state government-run medical colleges, should be abolished,” the resolution stated.
It was tabled by state medical and skill development minister Sharan Prakash Patil in the legislative assembly amid protests by the opposition. The resolution was passed in both Houses. The opposition was seeking a discussion on corruption cases against the Congress government.
“We have a track record that the CET (common entrance test) was held in a transparent manner. We have said the central government should allow the states to conduct the examination, so that the future of our medical students is safeguarded,” Patil said.
“The Karnataka legislative council unanimously urges the Union government to immediately provide exemption for the state of Karnataka from this examination, and to provide medical admissions based on CET marks, considering the repeated NEET irregularities,” the resolution stated.
Patil further said there should be amendments to the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, so that the NEET system is given up on the national level. A day ago, the West Bengal assembly also passed a resolution to scrap the NEET and announced it will conduct its own entrance for medical students.
Just like Karnataka, Bengal also condemned the inability of the NEET to conduct a free and fair examination that has affected the future of medical students in the country. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to immediately abolish the NEET and allow states to conduct their own entrance exams.
Tamil Nadu passed the same resolution in June. The NEET was also debated in Parliament where Congress MP and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi touched upon the paper leak case and targeted the Centre for a massive administrative failure that has put the future of students in jeopardy.
Calling it a “very serious problem” in the country’s education system, Gandhi said: “The issue is that there are millions of students in the country who are extremely concerned about what is going on and who are convinced that the Indian examination system is a fraud.”
His statement was countered by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who said the National Testing Agency (NTA) under which the NEET was conducted, was set up during the UPA government’s tenure. “A lie will not become a truth just by shouting. The fact that the leader of the opposition says the country’s examination system is rubbish is highly condemnable,” Pradhan said.
On July 23, the Supreme Court ruled that there was no indication of an overall systemic failure barring some cases. The top court denied any large-scale leak in the NEET-UG 2024 and ruled that there will be no re-examination, as there were no credible reports of widespread issues. After hearing arguments put forward by the CBI, the court also underlined that directing a retest will have serious consequences on 24 lakh students who appeared for the exam.
The NEET-UG 2024 was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres. A total of 1,563 candidates were accidentally given the wrong question papers during the exam and, after a massive outcry over the paper leak issue, the investigation into the irregularities was taken over by the CBI. Six FIRs were filed in connection with the case.
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