Tamil Nadu’s ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has renewed its demand for the complete abolition of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), calling its position “uncompromising and firm” amid fresh nationwide protests over the medical entrance examination.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party argued that NEET should be scrapped altogether and that education should be moved from the Concurrent List to the State List of the Constitution, giving state governments greater control over medical education and admissions.
As an interim measure, TVK proposed creating a Special Concurrent List to expand states’ powers until a constitutional amendment becomes feasible. The statement comes against the backdrop of renewed student protests over NEET, the detention of Tamil rapper and activist Therukkural Arivu during an anti-NEET demonstration outside the Tamil Nadu Secretariat, and an intensifying political debate over the future of medical admissions.
While TVK maintained that only constitutional reforms can address the issue, it also criticised political parties that promise to abolish NEET without possessing the legal authority to do so. The renewed demand has once again placed questions of educational equity, federalism and state autonomy at the centre of the national conversation.
TVK Pushes Constitutional Reform
Reaffirming its long-standing opposition to NEET, TVK said the debate extends beyond allegations of examination irregularities and instead concerns who should have the authority to shape education policy in India.
The party declared that its “uncompromising and firm stand” is that NEET must be abolished altogether, arguing that a centralised entrance examination undermines the ability of individual states to design admission systems suited to their own educational realities.
According to the party, states should have exclusive authority over education, including medical admissions, by transferring the subject from the Concurrent List to the State List of the Constitution. Acknowledging that such a constitutional amendment may not be immediately possible, TVK proposed the creation of a Special Concurrent List as an interim arrangement to grant state governments greater decision-making powers over education policy.
The party described this as both a practical short-term solution and its long-term vision for educational governance. The statement also recalled Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s earlier position following the cancellation of NEET UG 2026 after the reported paper leak, when he urged the Union government to abolish the examination and allow medical admissions to be based on Class 12 examination marks.
Vijay had then argued that repeated controversies surrounding NEET exposed structural weaknesses in the system and disproportionately affected students from rural areas and government schools.
Political Debate Deepens
The latest statement has also intensified political exchanges in Tamil Nadu, where opposition to NEET has remained a significant electoral and policy issue for several years. Without naming the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) directly, TVK criticised what it described as “fraudulent politics” of promising to abolish NEET without having the constitutional authority to implement such a decision.
The remarks were widely seen as a reference to the DMK’s 2021 Assembly election promise to scrap NEET after assuming office. TVK argued that political parties should instead work towards securing constitutional powers that would genuinely enable states to decide their own admission policies.
The debate gained further momentum after rapper and activist Therukkural Arivu staged an anti-NEET protest outside Fort St. George, the seat of the Tamil Nadu government, before being detained by police. Arivu later clarified through social media that he had met Health Minister Aadhav Arjuna, not Chief Minister Vijay as initially reported, and urged the government to intensify efforts towards abolishing NEET.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin criticised the detention, saying voices opposing NEET should not be suppressed and arguing that Arivu represented the concerns of thousands of students and parents. The renewed political exchanges coincide with student demonstrations in Delhi and other parts of the country, where protesters have demanded greater accountability and reforms following recent controversies surrounding the examination process.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The debate around NEET continues to highlight a larger challenge that extends beyond one entrance examination. It raises important questions about educational equity, federalism, access to opportunity and the balance of powers between the Union and the states.
For many students, particularly those from rural backgrounds, government schools and economically weaker communities, the discussion is deeply personal, touching upon fairness, affordability and equal access to higher education. At the same time, supporters of a common national examination argue that uniform standards help ensure transparency and merit-based admissions across the country.
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