MK Stalin writes to PM Modi, 8 CMs to abolish NEET nationally amid paper leak row

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to exempt the state from conducting the NEET for admissions to medical colleges.
In a letter addressed to PM Modi, Stalin said that the selection process for professional courses should only be through class 12 marks which would help lift off unwarranted additional stress students face.
Stalin's letter to PM Modi comes amid a massive uproar across the nation over NEET paper leak cases, which has prompted a CBI probe and crackdown against those involved in the exam irregularities.
The Tamil Nadu CM also urged the Prime Minister to scrap NEET on the national level.
"In this regard, 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," Stalin said in the letter.
Considering the above, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed an unanimous resolution on Friday urging the Union Government to provide its assent to the Bill for exempting Tamil Nadu from NEET and also to amend the National Medical Commission Act to give up this selection process at the national level, he said.
The irregularities during the recent NEET exam validated the state's opposition to it, Stalin said. "Many other states have also started voicing their views on the need to do away with this selection process," the chief minister told the PM as per news agency PTI.
In separate letters addressed to his counterparts in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal, Stalin requested them to consider passing a similar resolution in their respective assemblies to abolish the NEET.
"Considering the importance and seriousness of the issue, I request you to consider passing a similar resolution in your state Legislative Assembly also to urge the Union Government to abolish the NEET exams in the interest of the students of our states," Stalin said in the letter.
Stalin also wrote to the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, seeking his support to Tamil Nadu's demand for NEET exemption.
He requested Rahul Gandhi to raise the issue of NEET abolition and highlight the resolution passed by Tamil Nadu against the test in Parliament.
"I request you to voice this concern and the demand of Tamil Nadu in the Parliament and also suggest to the states that are in the INDIA alliance to pass similar resolutions in the respective assemblies in the interest of the youth of the nation," Stalin told Rahul Gandhi.