'First to campaign against it': Stalin dubs NEET as 'anti-poor, anti-social justice'
"After coming to power, we constituted a high-level committee headed by Justice AK Rajan to study the impact of NEET-based admission process,” he said
Amid the controversy surrounding the NEET-UG 2024 results, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has said that NEET and other centrally-conducted examinations are “anti-poor, undermine federal polity and are against social justice”.
Stalin took to social media platform X on Sunday to air his resentment against these exams, saying, “DMK was the first to foresee the hazards of #NEET and undertook a large-scale campaign against it. After coming to power, we constituted a High-Level Committee headed by Justice A.K. Rajan to study the impact of NEET-based admission process.”
“The Committee's report, based on extensive data analysis and inputs from students, parents, and the public, has been published and shared with various State Governments to expose NEET's anti-poor and anti-social justice nature. Based on the recommendations in the report, a Bill seeking exemption from NEET was unanimously passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. It is now awaiting Presidential assent, after an inordinate delay from the Tamil Nadu Governor's side,” he said.
“As nationwide opposition to NEET grows due to the recent largescale discrepancies, we are sharing the report of Justice A.K. Rajan Committee in English and all major Indian languages for everyone to better understand the ill-effects of NEET,” he added.
Subsequently, the chief minister also shared the link for the committee’s report in 9 different languages, including English and Hindi.
Earlier, Stalin had also expressed his views on the row surrounding this year’s NEET-UG results, saying, “Trends emerging from the latest #NEET results have vindicated our principled opposition to the exam. Issues such as question paper leaks, clustering of toppers at specific centres, and award of marks, which are mathematically impossible, under the guise of grace marks highlight the pitfalls of the current Union Government’s centralisation.”
He said these events emphasise the need to restore the pre-eminence of state governments and the school education system's role in determining criteria for professional course selection.
“We reiterate: NEET and other entrance examinations are anti-poor. They undermine federal polity. They are against social justice. They impact the availability of doctors in deserving areas. Let’s join hands to eradicate this malady. That day is not far!”