Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founder president Raj Thackeray on Thursday supported Tamil Nadu Chief Minister “Thalapathy” Vijay’s demand to cancel the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which is a national-level medical entrance exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to undergraduate medical courses.
He called for the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“I am surprised that no action has been taken against Dharmendra Pradhan despite many controversies and confusions related to NEET during his tenure. Pradhan, who is playing with the future of 22 lakh students, should resign immediately. I had discussed the issues related to NEET directly with the Prime Minister earlier as well, but the government has failed to provide any permanent solution,” Raj Thackeray said.
“What is the use of the Maharashtra government if only Marathi students do not get opportunities in medical colleges in Maharashtra? Ministers from Maharashtra must take a firm stand in the interest of the state instead of supporting every decision of the central government. Instead of doing photo sessions on petrol-diesel saving, they should raise their voice on the issue of student education, and Maharashtra should take a clear stand against NEET like the South Indian states,” Raj Thackeray said.
“Leaders from South India opposed the NEET exam like me. The new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Thalapathy Vijay, has also insisted on cancelling NEET. There are more than 350 medical colleges in the 5 South Indian states and Maharashtra together, but there are only 180 medical colleges in the big states of North India. Therefore, there is an effort to get students from North India into South Indian medical colleges, and this has been going on since 2016,” Raj Thackeray said.
He also raised serious questions about a financially strong network of coaching classes in North Indian states.
“There is a large coaching industry in North India, which has the financial strength and ability to bend the system. While Maharashtra and South Indian states have a large number of medical colleges, an exam like NEET was imposed only to ensure that students from North India got admission in these states. It is due to this reason that South Indian states, including Tamil Nadu, have always opposed NEET,” Raj Thackeray said.
Raj Thackeray said that he had been opposed to NEET right since its inception. He stated that the introduction of a single medical entrance exam like NEET across the country in 2016 was purely due to the insistence and pressure of the central government.
“Right from the beginning, since the very inception of NEET, I had expressed my fears that it would benefit only economically well-off students who could afford expensive coaching classes and that it would harm the prospects of rural and middle-class students. My fears have now been confirmed by the type of paper leak that has come to light. It has been revealed that the NEET exam paper was sold for lakhs of rupees, and it was traced back to people operating from Maharashtra,” Raj Thackeray said.
Raj Thackeray mentioned the previous confusion in the NEET exam. He alleged that some students got 720 out of 720 marks, the way grace marks were given, and the incidents of paper leakage had eroded the credibility of the exam. He indirectly criticised the central government by saying that only those who have the power to bend the system benefit from this system.
“My question is whether society should trust doctors who graduate from such a shoddy system,” Raj Thackeray said.