'Abolish NEET and restore the previous system': Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, demanding the abolition of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). She urged PM Modi to "take immediate and decisive steps" to revert to the previous system, wherein state governments conducted their medical entrance exams.

“I am constrained to write to you regarding the recent developments involving the NEET Examination. The allegations of paper leaks, taking bribes by certain people and the officials involved in the conduct of the Examinations, the opening of windows to accommodate certain students to apply for examinations, grace marks, etc, are some of the serious issues that need complete attention and requires a thorough, clean and impartial probe…,” Banerjee wrote in her letter

“Such instances jeopardize the career and aspirations of lakhs and lakhs of students who look forward to getting admission into these medical courses. Such instances not only compromise the quality of medical education in the country but adversely affect the quality of medical facilities/treatment in the country,” Banerjee said.

In her letter, Banerjee noted that before 2017, states conducted their entrance exams for medical courses, and this system worked smoothly.

“In this regard, this is also to point out that before 2017, the states were allowed to conduct their entrance examinations, and the central government also used to conduct its examinations for admission into the medical courses. This system was functioning smoothly and without many problems,” the letter read.

“This was better attuned to the regional curricula and educational standards. The state government usually spends more than Rs 50 lakh per doctor on education and internship. Therefore, the state should be given freedom to select medical students through Joint Entrance Examination,” Banerjee added.

“The decentralised system was later changed to a unitary and centralised system of examination (NEET) so as to take complete control of all the admissions in the country in the medical courses without any involvement of the state governments. This is completely unacceptable and violates the true spirits of the federal structure of the country,” Mamata Banerjee said.

“Further, the present system has led to massive corruption which benefits only the rich who can afford to pay, while the meritorious students belonging to the poor and middle class suffer and are the biggest victims..,” she added.

“Therefore, I strongly urge upon you to consider and take immediate steps to restore the previous system of conducting this examination by the state governments and abolish the NEET examination. This will help restore normalcy and confidence of the aspirant students in the system,” she urged PM Modi through her letter.

The NEET-UG results this year have sparked significant controversy due to allegations of irregularities such as grace marks, errors, and paper leaks. As a response, a re-test has been scheduled for 1,563 students. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the investigation into these irregularities. Furthermore, the head of the National Testing Agency (NTA) has been replaced, and the government has formed a panel to propose reforms for the examination process.