The Assembly also adopted the resolutions against delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies based on the coming census, "One Nation, One Election".
Published Jul 25, 2024 | 1:10 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 25, 2024 | 3:54 PM
The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday, 25 July, passed a resolution against the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). The resolution was tabled by Minister of Medical Education & Skill Development, Sharan Prakash Patil.
The Assembly also adopted the resolutions against delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies based on the coming census, “One Nation, One Election”.
On Monday, 22 July, the state cabinet approved the resolution, along with two others against “One Nation, One Election” and delimitation of constituencies for the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
The government said the NEET examination system is severely affecting the medical education opportunities of poor children from rural areas. It not only makes the school education system ineffective but also takes away the rights of the state government to admit students in state government-managed medical colleges and hence it is requested that this system should be abolished.
“This House demands the Centre to exempt Karnataka from this exam and allow admission in the medical colleges to the school students on the basis of the Common Entrance Test conducted by the State government and cancel the NEET system in view of the irregularities taking place nationwide and make essential amendments in the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (Central Act 30 of 2019),” the third resolution said.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also had urged the Centre to scrap the NEET, and allow states to conduct their own entrance tests.
#Karnataka assembly passes resolution against #NEET
The resolution was tabled by Minister of Medical Education & Skill Development, Sharan Prakash Patil.
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) July 25, 2024
Sharing the official resolution on X, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dinesh Gundu Rao, wrote, “Today, both Houses of the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the central government to cancel the NEET exam and reinstate the CET system.”
He further wrote: “Our previous CET examination system in Karnataka was renowned for its transparency and excellence, setting a benchmark for the entire country. We urge the central government to abolish NEET and consider our demand to restore the CET system in Karnataka, ensuring fair and equitable opportunities for all our students.”
Today, both Houses of the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the central government to cancel the #NEET exam and reinstate the CET system.
The NEET system, plagued by corruption, jeopardizes the aspirations of Karnataka’s poor and middle-class students… pic.twitter.com/1RjWgQeXJz
— Dinesh Gundu Rao/ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್ (@dineshgrao) July 25, 2024
Regarding the delimitation process, the resolution reads, “The Karnataka Assembly demands that the Central Government should not carry out the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of a census that happens in the 2026 census or thereafter. In case of increasing the number of seats based on the population, it should take into account the 1971 census to decide the number of Lok Sabha seats in a state and the assembly constituencies there.”
In the other resolution, the Congress government said the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal poses a threat to India’s democratic and federal system.
Different state legislatures have their own terms of office, and a uniform election schedule can undermine states’ autonomy by focusing too much on national issues and neglecting local concerns. Ensuring adequate security, managing election staff, dejection among voters, reduced government accountability and economic and social constraints are serious concerns associated with simultaneous elections, it said.
“Therefore, this House urges the Central Government not to implement this draconian law to protect the democratic processes and unity of India,” the resolution, tabled by the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H Patil, read.
The Speaker UT Khader later announced that the resolutions have been adopted.
Tamil Nadu Assembly had on 28 June, passed a similar resolution against NEET. Issues with the national-level entrance test have come to the fore, following alleged irregularities in the recently conducted NEET UG exam, and their results.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 23 July refused to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 or order a retest, saying that despite two localised leaks it cannot be concluded that there was a systemic breach.
Moving the resolution, Stalin said apart from making medical education inaccessible to the poor and rural students, NEET will affect the medical services in the rural and backward areas.
“The DMK has consistently been opposing NEET since it was made mandatory in 2017 and had even launched a massive signature campaign aiming to abolish the test,” the Chief Minister said and recalled the two earlier Assembly resolutions adopted by the House seeking presidential assent to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET.
“NEET should be abolished. Tamil Nadu should be allowed to admit students to medical courses taking the Plus two marks as the qualifying criteria. Taking into account the irregularities in several states and opposition to the test, the Centre should appropriately amend the National Medical Commission Act to totally scrap NEET,” the Tamil Nadu resolution had said.
After passing the resolution, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had also written to his counterparts in the non-BJP ruling southern states, along with Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and West Bengal requesting them to consider passing a resolution in their respective assemblies to abolish the NEET, similar to the one passed in Tamil Nadu Assembly.
“Considering the importance and seriousness of the issue, I request you to consider passing a similar resolution in your state Legislative Assembly also to urge the Union Government to abolish the NEET exams in the interest of the students of our states,” Stalin said in the letter.
