States will legally fight to scrap NEET, says Karnataka Medical Education minister, demands CBI probe

Karnataka Medical Education and Skill Development Minister Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil on Friday said the states would have to fight legally to be allowed to scrap the NEET, days after deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar demanded the states be allowed to conduct their own entrance exams. He demanded a CBI enquiry into the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-2024 in the wake of the exam’s on-going grace marks controversy, terming it a scam of the Modi-government.

“The central government’s reluctance to order a probe despite the exposure of this massive scam raises doubts in the minds of the people. All the state governments have demanded a CBI probe. We don’t know if the Centre is trying to shield the culprits. The Modi government is playing with the future of 24 lakh students across the country,” Patil said.

The state, however, could not outrightly reject the NEET, he added, as the law was enacted by the Central government and backed by a Supreme Court order. “The Tamil Nadu government has expressed its position, we need to fight legally. The Apex Court has told the Centre to accept if it has bungled. It’s sad that the Centre is not taking this seriously even as students and parents continue their protests across the country,” he said.


The National Testing Agency, which conducts the undergraduate NEET, has been facing allegations of discrepancies, paper leaks, and unfair grading. Over 30 candidates had filed a petition, urging the Supreme court to take cognisance of the NEET controversy. The Court has directed the Union and NTA to submit their responses in two weeks.

Opposition parties are cornering the BJP on the issue, with the fresh development of the NTA cancelling the UGC-NET exam on Wednesday, a day after it was conducted, after receiving information that the paper had been leaked and circulated on Telegram.