Published May 13, 2026 | 7:00 PM ⚊ Updated May 13, 2026 | 7:00 PM
C Joseph Vijay.
Synopsis: The Chief Minister demanded that the Union Government abolish NEET and permit States to fill all seats under the State quota in MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses based on Class 12 marks. Vijay said the repeated question-paper leaks had exposed “structural flaws” in the national-level examination system. He added that the cancellation of NEET UG-2026 had shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country.
Almost two years after the Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to exempt the state from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, on Wednesday, 13 May, raised a demand for scrapping the test and allowing States to fill medical seats based on marks scored in the Plus-Two examination.
Vijay made the demand a day after the National Testing Agency (NTA), with the Centre’s approval, cancelled the NEET UG-2026 examination held on 3 May, following the alleged leak of questions ahead of the test. The Central Bureau of Investigation is now probing the incident.
In a statement, Vijay said the repeated question-paper leaks had exposed “structural flaws” in the national-level examination system.
Vijay said the cancellation of the NEET UG-2026 had shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country.
The 3 May NEET UG-2026 was conducted at 5,432 centres nationwide, including 31 centres in Tamil Nadu. Vijay’s statement said around 22.05 lakh students appeared for the examination across India, including nearly 1.4 lakh candidates from Tamil Nadu.
Related: NEET UG-2026 cancelled after paper leak row
The Chief Minister pointed out that this was not the first controversy involving NEET.
He recalled that in 2024, too, question paper leak allegations had led to FIRs being registered in six States, following which the cases were transferred to the CBI.
Vijay also referred to the high-level committee constituted by the Union Government under former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan on the directions of the Supreme Court after the 2024 controversy.
The committee had submitted 95 recommendations for reforms, but despite those measures, another paper leak had occurred within two years, he pointed out.
“This is conclusive proof of structural flaws in a national-level examination,” the statement said.
Related: ‘If rich kids buy papers, poor students cannot become doctors’
Vijay reiterated Tamil Nadu’s longstanding opposition to NEET, arguing that the exam disproportionately affects students from rural backgrounds, government schools, Tamil-medium education and economically weaker sections.
“The introduction of NEET has severely disadvantaged students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil-medium backgrounds and socio-economically disadvantaged families,” he said.
The Chief Minister demanded that the Union Government abolish NEET and permit States to fill all seats under the State quota in MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses based on Class 12 marks.
Related: NTA has failed students once too often
On 28 June 2024, the then-Chief Minister MK Stalin tabled the resolution, calling upon the Union government to amend the National Medical Commission Act and abolish the country-wide screening test, considering the irregularities and increasing opposition to the test in several States.
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.
Barring BJP members, the House adopted the resolution. A BJP ally, the PMK, was among those parties that supported the resolution.
Earlier, the DMK had said the abolition of NEET was the only solution to prevent student suicides and halt cheating in examinations.
Incidentally, Vijay, too, has been opposing NEET. On 3 July 2024, he demanded the return of the education and sanitation departments to the State list from the Concurrent list. He was speaking at an event organised to honour students who had passed the 10th and 12th grade exams with flying colours.
Stalin, too, had demanded moving education to the State list.
