Replace NEET with State-based exam, Bengal Assembly urges State government

West Bengal Assembly passes resolution urging State-based medical entrance exam, criticizing NEET, sparking debate and protests.

The West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution urging the Government of West Bengal to conduct the State-based joint entrance examination for admission of students to medical colleges for ensuring a robust public health care system across the State.

The resolution passed under Rule 169, tabled by Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, stated that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) without any consultation with the State government is not desired and expected in a federal and democratic country like India.

The resolution criticized the National Testing Agency for its perceived failure to conduct a fair and impartial examination and called on the State government to organise joint entrance examinations within the State for the greater public good. Mr. Chattopadhyay alleged corruption in the NEET examination this year and said it was the biggest corruption in the education system.

Participating in the discussion, Education Minister Bratya Basu said NEET had put the fate of 24 lakh examinees in jeopardy. The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposed NEET when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Mr. Basu added that before 2016 when the entrance examination to medical colleges was held by the States there were no allegations of irregularities.

The BJP legislators opposed the resolution. Participating in the debate, BJP legislator Sankar Ghosh said the Trinamool Congress had no moral right to speak about irregularities or corruption in the education system, particularly at a time when the Central agencies are probing recruitment scam in State-run schools. The BJP chief whip in the House alleged that transparency and Trinamool Congress did not go hand in hand. The resolution was passed with voice vote.

Prior to this, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging to scrap NEET and restore the old State-based examination system.

Last month, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to scrap NEET and allow State governments to undertake medical admission. The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to cancel NEET-UG 2024 held on May 5.