TVK Demands NEET Abolition, Seeks States’ Control Over Education
Vijay's party backs student protests, calls for shifting education to the State List and ending the medical entrance test
GG News Bureau
Chennai, 22nd July: Tamil Nadu’s ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Tuesday demanded the complete abolition of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and called for states to be given full authority over medical education, joining the Opposition’s criticism of the Centre over the alleged NEET paper leak.
In a statement, the party said its stand was not limited to opposing irregularities in the examination but was firmly in favour of scrapping NEET altogether. It also called for shifting education from the Concurrent List to the State List of the Constitution to give states full control over education, including medical admissions.
The party said that if constitutional or legal hurdles prevented such a move, a Special Concurrent List should be created as an interim arrangement to empower state governments.
Without naming the DMK, TVK accused those making false promises to abolish NEET for electoral gains of indulging in “fraudulent politics.” The remark was seen as a reference to the DMK’s 2021 Assembly election promise to scrap the medical entrance examination.
The party also asserted that its proposal represented both a permanent and interim solution to the issue, adding that its leader and Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay had consistently advocated greater powers for states in matters relating to education.
TVK further objected to what it described as attempts to appropriate its ideas and target the party politically.
The statement came amid continuing protests over the alleged NEET paper leak and followed criticism by Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin over the government’s handling of rapper Therukkural Arivu, who briefly raised anti-NEET slogans outside the Tamil Nadu Secretariat before being detained by police.
