Karnataka Medical Education and Skill Development Minister Sharan Prakash Patil on Friday termed the NEET-UG 2024 a massive ‘scam’ of the Central government, as he demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

About 24 lakh aspirants appeared for NEET on May 5 for admission to medical colleges. The results were announced before time on June 5 but were marred by allegations of paper leak and awarding of grace marks to over 1,500 candidates.

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Addressing mediaperons here, Patil said, “The Tamil Nadu government has already expressed its position…We need to fight this legally.”

“It’s sad that the Centre is not taking the matter seriously even as students and parents continue to protest across the country. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is acting irresponsibly. The CBI should conduct a probe and the guilty must be punished,” he added.

The minister also said that the Centre’s reluctance to order a probe into the NEET fiasco despite protests across the country raises doubts in the minds of the people.

“Many state governments have demanded a CBI probe into the matter. We don’t know if the Centre is trying to shield the culprits. The BJP government at the Centre is playing with the future of 24 lakh students,” Patil said.

Expressing the state government’s limitations in seeking exemption from NEET, Patil cited a Supreme Court order and the legal restrictions.

“We cannot outrightly reject NEET as per the law, it was enacted by the Central government and we have a Supreme Court order regarding conducting NEET,” he said.