- Tamil Nadu CM Vijay urged Union Government to cancel NEET-based medical admissions
- He demanded states fill medical seats based on Class 12 marks instead of NEET scores
- NEET-UG 2026 exam cancelled due to paper leak; retest ordered by National Testing Agency
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru. C. Joseph Vijay on Wednesday urged the Union Government to cancel NEET-based admissions for medical courses and permit the respective States to fill seats based on Class 12 marks, stating that the cancellation has shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country.
"The Government of Tamil Nadu has been consistently and unanimously opposing NEET since its very inception. The introduction of NEET has severely disadvantaged students from rural areas, Government schools, Tamil-medium backgrounds, and socio-economically disadvantaged families. The Government of Tamil Nadu reiterates the State's long-pending demand to abolish NEET and permit the States to fill all seats under the State quota in MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses on the basis of Class 12 marks," CM Vijay said in a statement on X.
The statement comes amid the paper leak controversy surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 examination. The NTA, the conducting body, has directed a retest after cancelling the May 3 examination held across the country.
The NEET-UG 2026 examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency on May 3, 2026, across 5,432 centres. In Tamil Nadu alone, the examination was held in 31 cities. A total of 22,05,035 candidates appeared for the examination, including approximately 1.4 lakh candidates from Tamil Nadu.
He added that, "The National Testing Agency has now cancelled this examination with the approval of the Government of India, following investigations by law enforcement agencies into the alleged leakage of the question paper. The matter has been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation for an inquiry. This cancellation has shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country."
"This is not the first time NEET has been compromised. In 2024, the question paper was leaked and FIRs were registered across six States and transferred to the CBI. Pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court of India, the Union Government constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts under Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, which submitted 95 comprehensive recommendations for reforms. Despite all this, within two years, another paper leak has occurred and the examination has been cancelled. This is conclusive proof of structural flaws in a national-level exam," he said.
While speaking to NDTV on Tuesday, NTA Chief and Director General Abhishek Singh said the agency is fully committed to conducting a fair and transparent examination for students across the country. He admitted that cancelling the examination after reports of a paper leak was an embarrassing situation for the agency, but said tough decisions were necessary to maintain the credibility of the examination process.
The NEET-UG paper leak case has triggered nationwide protests and concern among students and parents, with many demanding stronger accountability and better safeguards in the examination system.