Private Member Resolution Seeks Repeal of NEET, NTA Introduced in RS

NEET UG exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to medical, dental, ayurvedic and other related courses in government and private institutions | Illustration: Ajay Mohanty

4 minutes of reading Last updated: August 2, 2024 | 18:06 IST

A parliamentary resolution was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday urging the government to bring in a bill removing education from the list of concurrent subjects and repealing the NEET and NTA exams to allow states to conduct entrance exams for medical courses.

DMK member from Tamil Nadu M Mohamed Abdulla moved the resolution during the afternoon session of Rajya Sabha despite opposition from the government which argued that it would go against the Supreme Court verdict in the NEET case.

The National Eligibility and Admission Test (Undergraduate) is conducted by the National Examination Agency (NTA) for admission to medical, dental, ayurvedic and other related courses in government and private institutions.

The resolution asked the Rajya Sabha to urge the government to frame legislation to remove education from the Concurrent List and shift it to the State List in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.

It also sought the repeal of NEET and NTA exams and a return to state-based admissions to medical colleges, which are tailored to the requirements of individual states, and a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of victims affected by the NEET exam.

While introducing the resolution, Abdulla highlighted the “injustice done to students residing in the states and infringement of the autonomy of the state governments in the field of medical education.”

“The NEET exam is flawed in the way it selects eligible candidates,” he said, pointing to the “current leaks of NEET question papers, irresponsible awarding of grace marks and the inability of the NTA to conduct the exam successfully without bias against students.”

Even before Abdulla could move the resolution at the request of Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker Harivansh, Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary intervened and said the private resolution was against “several precedents and parliamentary norms and practices”.

He added that the Supreme Court had issued guidelines in 2018 and following their issuance and rulings, the NTA conducted the NEET exam.

Following the recent Supreme Court verdict, the government set up a high-level committee headed by eminent figures to examine reforms to the entire examination process and to review the functioning of the NTA and data security protocols.

In view of all this, the discussion on abolition of NTA and NEET in Rajya Sabha will be against the spirit of the Supreme Court judgment, Chaudhary said and requested Abdullah to withdraw the resolution.

BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari agreed with Chaudhary, saying discussing the issue would be tantamount to defying the Supreme Court.

Many Opposition members, including John Brittas and V Sivadasan of the CPI(M), Raghav Chadha of the AAP and Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress, argued that preventing a member from introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives that had been approved by the Speaker would be a violation of the member’s rights.

Amid boos from both sides, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asked the Speaker to allow the MP to continue if he wanted to but demanded a vote on the resolution.

“The judiciary and the legislature do not question each other. We respect each other. The Supreme Court’s ruling is the law of the land, and the parliament makes the laws.

“As the government has agreed with the Supreme Court order and started the implementation process, it will not be appropriate to discuss the issue again, keeping in mind the tradition we have followed,” Rijiju noted.

The Deputy Speaker assured the Rajya Sabha that the House would follow due procedure and asked Abdullah to move the resolution.

Congress member Shakti Singh Gohil said political entities should go beyond party politics and discuss the issue.

Trinamool Congress Party’s Jawhar Sircar says the NEET system favours CBSE students and is not fair to state board students.

He added that the experience with NTA was bad and efforts should be made to develop a better system.

DMK’s NR Elango called NEET against the spirit of federalism and students, seeking support of all political parties for its abolition.

Raghav Chadha said there is still a huge gap between education and employability in the country and NEET applicants suffer due to a corrupt system.

He appealed to the government to conduct a thorough investigation and punish those responsible for the NEET exam fiasco.

While RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha demanded the abolition of both NTA and NEET, Brittas noted that the issue affects millions of students and their families and therefore, it needs to be discussed in detail and a solution found out.

On the other hand, BJP’s Ajit Madhavrao Gopchade called the NEET exam a success, while saying that the pass percentage among weaker sections and female candidates has increased over the years.

(Only the headline and image of the report may have been edited by the Business Standard team; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: August 2, 2024 | 18:06 IST