The Rajya Sabha today took up discussion on a private member resolution moved by DMK member M. Mohamed Abdulla urging the government to repeal NEET and NTA and revert to medical admissions based on the criteria of state governments. Intervening in the discussion, Leader of the House and Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said that the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) provides a robust and very systematic system for admissions in various disciplines of medical education.
He appealed to the members not to undermine this system, as NEET is a very good medium through which students from villages and remote areas can get admissions in MBBS and BDS. He said we should not undermine it. Mr Nadda said that previously, medical education had become an open business. He said earlier students had to struggle to take multiple medical exams and spent large sums of money on them.
He said there was also significant corruption during the counselling process for seat allocation for medical courses. Mr Nadda informed the House that at present NEET is being conducted in 571 cities, which was earlier held in 154 cities, registering an increase of 270 per cent. He also said that there has been a 65 per cent increase in the number of students from social categories who secure seats through NEET.
The Health Minister added that the exam is now conducted in 13 languages, and students from government schools have also benefited from this. He also said that this year, there are 17 perfect scorers in NEET-UG, and they are from states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier speaking on the resolution, DMK member M. Mohamed Abdulla alleged that the NEET examination is directly against the principle of social justice. He also raised the issue of the NEET paper leak. He urged the government to repeal NEET and opt for decentralised examination.
Participating in the discussion, Dr Anil Sukhdeorao Bonde of the BJP opposed the resolution moved by a DMK member, saying that it was the opinion of all that there should be a uniform examination process for admission to medical courses. He said the NEET examination, which is being conducted in various languages, is a welcome step.
Other members, including Shaktisinh Gohil of Congress, Jawhar Sircar of AITC, Raghav Chadha of AAP, and Dr John Brittas of CPI (M), also participated in the discussion. However, the discussion remained inconclusive. Later, the House was adjourned for the day.
