Home » News » Speaker Adjourns Lok Sabha Till 1 July Amid Uproar As Opposition Demands Discussion On Neet

Speaker adjourns Lok Sabha till 1 July amid uproar as Opposition demands discussion on NEET

Several MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, mostly from Southern States, gave adjournment motion notice demanding discussion on NEET.

BySouth First Desk

Published Jun 28, 2024 | 12:34 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 28, 2024 | 12:34 PM

Lok Sabha. (Screengrab)

The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 11:00 am on 1 July, on Friday, 28 June, amid an uproar in the House as the opposition demanded a discussion on the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the medical entrance exam NEET. Rajya Sabha too was adjourned till noon over Opposition’s demand for answers on NEET.

As soon as the House met, opposition members were on their feet seeking the acceptance of an adjournment motion to suspend all business and discuss matters related to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the NEET issue is a very important issue for the whole country and they want a dedicated discussion in the House on the matter. Hence, the adjournment motion should be accepted, he said.

Speaking to the reporters in the Parliament complex, Rahul Gandhi said, “This is the issue concerning the youth, and the INDIA bloc thinks this is the most important issue.”

“Parliament should send a message to the youth that the government and opposition are together in raising concerns of students. I urge PM Modi to hold a respectful, good discussion on the NEET issue in Parliament as it concerns the country’s youth,” he added.

Similarly in Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge urged the Chairman to accept the demand for discussion.

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Opposition MPs give adjournment motion notice

Apart from the Leaders of the Opposition in both houses, a few other Opposition MPs have also given adjournment motion notices.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2024
Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan gives suspension of business notice under rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss cases of paper leaks in the conduct of exams, including NEET-UG and UGC NET and the failure of NTA
IUML MP PV Abdul Wahab gives suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 to discuss the question paper leakage of the NEET exam, cancellation of UGC NET, CSIR NET, NEET PG, and NCET conducted by NTA
Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain gives suspension of business notice under rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss cases of paper leaks in the conduct of exams, including NEET-UG and UGC NET.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore gives an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the cases of paper leaks in the conduct of exams, including NEET-UG and UGC NET, and the failure of NTA.
Congress MP KC Venugopal gives an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha to discuss the cases of paper leaks in the conduct of exams, including NEET-UG and UGC NET, and the failure of NTA.

The main object of an adjournment motion is to draw the attention of the House to a recent matter of urgent public importance having serious consequences, and about which a motion or a resolution with proper notice will be too late.

Similarly, rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States gives special power to a Rajya Sabha member to suspend the pre-decided agenda of the House.

Houses adjourned

However, Speaker Om Birla said that he could not allow it as the House was about to take up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on Thursday, 27 June.

“You can raise all matters in the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address. You will get enough time. But I can’t allow you to raise any other issue during the debate on the Motion of Thanks. It was already decided and mentioned in the bulletin too,” he said.

With the opposition not relenting, the uproar continued and the Speaker subsequently adjourned the House till 11:00 am on 1 July.

#18thLoksabha #LokSabha adjourned till 11:00AM on 01.07.2024 pic.twitter.com/SdaCUdBqYI

— SansadTV (@sansad_tv) June 28, 2024

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar did not approve of 22 notices by members from the opposition benches under a rule to suspend the listed business of the day and hold a discussion on the NEET issue.

However, Dhankhar did not agree and asked BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi to initiate the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.

As Trivedi started his speech, several opposition members entered the Well of the House raising slogans. They were also demanding the resignation of the union education minister.

Dhankhar asked the opposition members standing in the Well to return to their seats. He also warned that they could be named.

But the opposition did not relent, leading to adjournment of the proceedings till 12 noon.

NEET row

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG was conducted by the NTA on 5 May, with around 24 lakh candidates taking part in it.

The results were announced on 4 June, but they were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.

The Education Ministry also cancelled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and NEET (postgraduate) examinations after receiving inputs that the exams’ “integrity may have been compromised.