Tamil Nadu CM Renews Demand to Abolish NEET After Cancellation

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay renewed the state's longstanding demand to abolish the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Wednesday, citing the recent cancellation of the NEET UG 2026 exam as proof of its structural flaws.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) canceled the exam, held on May 3 across 5,432 centers nationwide with 2.2 million candidates including about 140,000 from Tamil Nadu in 31 cities, following allegations of a question paper leak. The decision came with Union government approval after initial investigations by law enforcement agencies, and the case was referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Vijay, in a statement on social media platform X, argued that NEET has disadvantaged students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil-medium backgrounds, and socioeconomically weaker families since its introduction. He called for states to fill all seats under their quotas for MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses based on Class 12 marks instead. "This is conclusive proof of flaws and structural flaws in a national level examination," Vijay said, noting the cancellation shattered the hopes of millions of medical aspirants.