Scrap NEET or Approve Tamil Nadu NEET exemption bill: DMK in Rajya Sabha
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in the NEET conduct this year, DMK Rajya Sabha member P Wilson recently urged the central government to either abolish MBBS entrance test- NEET or approve Tamil Nadu's NEET exemption Bill to exclude the state from the competitive exam.
His appeal in the Upper House of Parliament came during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha.
According to PTI report, he said the state legislative assembly had passed the Tamil Nadu Admission to Medical Courses Bill in 2021 and subsequently passed a resolution unanimously against the exam and to address the "NEET menace". However, the Bill has been pending the "Centre's assent for nearly three years", causing "anxiety" among students and parents, he said.
"We seek the PM's immediate attention to either approve the Bill passed by the state government or bring out amendments to the National Medical Commission Act to abolish the NEET and next exam system at the national level," Wilson stated, quotes PTI
The NEET-UG 2024 exam was taken by around 23.33 lakh students and the alleged irregularities in its conduct, including question paper leak, has led to filing of cases in courts, including the Supreme Court, and an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The probe agency on June 23 filed an FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities in the exam held on May 5 on a reference from the Union education ministry.
The DMK leader also criticised the delay in ordering of the CBI probe, claiming this might have allowed "fraudsters" to tamper with documents and erase evidence.
Wilson also raised concerns about the handling of competitive exams, including the NEET, by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The agency that handles crucial national-level tests is registered under the Societies Registration Act "like any other flat owner or housing society", the DMK leader said.
"From 2014 to 2024, the government has passed 427 Bills in the Lok Sabha and 365 bills in the Rajya Sabha. However, the Union government was not interested in introducing a legislation to provide statutory backing to the NTA," Wilson said and claimed that this lack of a legislation could potentially "shield the agency from accountability".
The DMK has long opposed NEET, having secured a stay from the Madras High Court on its implementation when it was first introduced in 2010 through regulations.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding exemption of NEET for the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK supremo M K Stalin on Friday said that "... we had passed a Bill unanimously in our legislative assembly to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET and to provide medical admissions based on 12th standard marks."
"This has been sent for Presidential assent but the assent is still pending," he had said and added that the irregularities during the recent NEET exam validated the state's opposition to the exam.
NEET Controversy
This year's NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam came to light. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 13 people, including four examinees and their family members, were arrested in Bihar for their alleged involvement in the paper leak of the NEET-UG exam. Patna police sources had previously claimed that the NEET-UG question papers along with their answers were provided to around 20 aspirants a day before the date of the exam i.e. May 5, 2024.
Then, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which took over the investigation, revealed that the brokers involved in the NEET paper leak scam took between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from each of the medical aspirants in exchange for giving them the question paper of the NEET UG 2024 question paper ahead of the examination.
Multiple pleas have been filed before the High Courts and the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the alleged paper leak scam. Some of the pleas demanded the scrapping of the NEET UG 2024 exam and holding a retest.
Meanwhile, during the case proceedings, NTA earlier decided to withdraw the grace marks awarded to 1563 candidates and hold an optional retest for those candidates. Those who did not opt for the retest were allowed to retain their original marks, without the grace marks.
The matter is now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Central Government on June 22, 2024, handed over the charge of investigating in the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"Certain cases of alleged irregularities / cheating / impersonation / malpractices have been reported. For transparency on the conduct of the examination process, the Ministry of Education, Government of India after a review has decided to entrust the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a comprehensive investigation," the Ministry of Education stated in a release.
Earlier, while considering the NEET-related pleas, the Supreme Court had refused to defer the counselling/seat allotment process scheduled to commence on July 6. However, the bench had orally observed that the admissions would be subject to the final outcome of the petitions and if the exams were set aside, the counselling would get invalidated consequentially.
The Top Court had also expressed its concern over the alleged discrepancies in the NEET UG 2024 exam. The Court had noted that even '0.001& negligence' in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 exams would be looked into with all seriousness considering the immense labor put in by the candidates for the prestigious examination.
Recently two candidates Kritika Garg and Priyanjali Garg approached the Apex Court opposing the proposal to cancel the NEET exam and hold a retest. Hailing from Meerut, these candidates secured Rs 705 and 690 marks respectively.
Approaching the Apex Court bench, they argued that students who have prepared for years should not be put to the trouble of appearing in the exam again. These applicants further contended that holding a retest for the NEET UG 2024 exam would not only be "unfair" to most students but would also cause hardship to their families.
NEET-UG retest result
The Centre and the NTA had, on June 13, told the court that they had cancelled the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates. They were given the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded for loss of time.
The NTA announced the revised rank list on Monday after issuing the results of the re-test held on June 23.
A total of 67 students had scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a Haryana centre figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities in the examination held on May 5. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The number of candidates sharing the top rank in the NEET-UG reduced to 61 from 67 as the NTA announced the revised results on Monday.
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