CHENNAI: A day after the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) held on May 3 was cancelled due to question paper leaks, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday called upon the centre to abolish NEET-based admissions to medical courses, stating that the alleged paper-leak incident has once again exposed the “structural flaws” in the national-level examination.
“The cancellation has shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country,” Vijay said in a statement.
Pointing out that the centre has cancelled the exam following investigations by law enforcement agencies into the alleged paper leak, he said the matter has been referred to the CBI for inquiry.
Recalling that NEET was similarly compromised in 2024 with FIRs registered in six states and the matter transferred to the CBI, the CM said the Supreme Court had then directed the centre to constitute a high-level committee of experts under former Isro chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan. He noted that the panel had submitted 95 recommendations for reforms.
“Despite all this, within two years, another paper leak has occurred, and the test has been cancelled. This is a conclusive proof of the structural flaws in the national-level exam,” Vijay said.
The CM said the test has severely affected students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil-medium backgrounds and socio-economically disadvantaged families.
Reiterating Tamil Nadu’s long-pending demand to abolish NEET, Vijay called upon the centre “to permit the states to fill all seats under the state quota in MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses based on Class 12 marks”.
The Opposition parties had reacted to the NEET incident on Tuesday itself.
More than 22 lakh candidates, including around 1.4 lakh from TN, had taken the NEET-UG 2026 on May 3. The exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency, was held across 5,432 centres in the country. The test was held in 31 cities across the state.
Exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET: Docs assn to centre
In the wake of cancellation of the exam, Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE) has once again sought the centre to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET for admission to medical courses.
In a statement, Dr G R Ravindranath, general secretary, DASE, said the Union Health Ministry should amend National Medical Commission Act, 2019, suitably for exempting TN from NEET for admission to UG, PG and higher specialty medical seats under the control of state government.
NEET should be conducted only for admission to institutions like AIIMS, JIPMER, military medical colleges and others under the control of union government, he said. The recommendations of the K Radhakrishnan Committee should be implemented, Dr Ravindranath added.
