Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, DMK Chief MK Stalin Demand NEET Be Scrapped; Slam Centre Over Rahul Gandhi's Arrest

Chennai: A day after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader was arrested for participating in the CJP’s protest in New Delhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay condemned the Union Government. Separately, DMK president M K Stalin, a strident critic of the NEET, reiterated his demand that the exam be abolished.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Vijay called the detention of the leaders including Rahul Gandhi as “anti-democratic”. The TVK, which he headed, extended its full support to the protest being organised by the Opposition parties on the Parliament premises.

Vijay also called for the abolition of the NEET, saying the examination severely affected students and their families. “If NEET has to be abolished, the only permanent solution is to move education back to the State List from the Concurrent List. If there are constitutional or legal hurdles in doing so, then, as an interim measure, a Special Concurrent List should be created and States should be vested with the necessary powers through it. This would enable State governments to exercise full control over education, including medical education,” he said.

Taking to social media, DMK leader M K Stalin, said scrapping the NEET alone will provide a lasting solution to all these problems. 

“More than any other demand, the abolition of NEET must be at the heart of students’ protests in New Delhi. We were the first to warn that NEET was designed to enable large-scale irregularities. That is why the DMK has opposed NEET from the very beginning, consistently pointing out the dangers it poses,” he said.

“Tamil Nadu, which led India in defending social justice and paved the way for the First Constitutional Amendment, has only one demand – the exam must be abolished,” he added.