Archive · 11 Aug 2026
Tamil Nadu Assembly Passes Unanimous Resolution Seeking NEET Abolition
In India, students who want to become doctors usually have to take a big test called NEET.
Many leaders in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India, think this test is not fair.
They believe students should instead get into medical school based on their 12th grade marks.
So the Tamil Nadu Assembly made an official decision called a resolution.
The resolution asks the national government in Delhi to remove the NEET requirement.
Many different political parties agreed, including DMK, AIADMK, the Left and PMK.
Only one lawmaker from the BJP party disagreed and walked out of the room.
The resolution says the test has had serious problems, like leaked question papers and a cancelled 2026 exam.
Some people are also on a hunger strike in Chennai to support this cause, which began after a student named Anitha died in 2017 over NEET.
The final decision still has to be made by the national government.
Tamil Nadu's Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to abolish NEET for undergraduate medical admissions and admit students based on Class 12 marks.
The resolution drew rare cross-party consensus, backed by DMK, AIADMK, the Left and PMK, while the lone BJP MLA, M Bhojarajan, opposed it and walked out before the vote.
Health Minister K G Arunraj moved the resolution, urging amendments to central acts including the 2019 National Medical Commission Act.
The resolution cited social justice, federalism, repeated question-paper leaks and the cancelled 2026 exam, saying NEET has 'forfeited the trust of the students of this country.'
The vote came as an anti-NEET hunger strike in Chennai entered its 11th day, and the state's exemption bill still awaits legal action at the national level after President Droupadi Murmu withheld assent.
- Who
- Tamil Nadu Assembly, with cross-party support from DMK, AIADMK, the Left and PMK; Health Minister K G Arunraj moved the resolution, while lone BJP MLA M Bhojarajan opposed it and walked out.
- What
- Passed a unanimous anti-NEET resolution urging the Union government to abolish NEET for undergraduate medical admissions and admit students based on Class 12 marks.
- When
- Tuesday, as the anti-NEET hunger strike in Chennai entered its 11th day.
- Where
- The Tamil Nadu Assembly, with the demand directed at the Union government in Delhi.
- Why
- To enable medical admissions based on Class 12 marks, citing social justice, equality, the rights of states in a federal system, paper leaks and irregularities, and the cancelled 2026 exam.
Supporters of abolishing NEET (state parties and protesters)
Supporters of retaining NEET (BJP and Union government)
Abolishing NEET
Supporters of abolishing NEET (state parties and protesters)
NEET violates federalism and the rights of states, is based on the CBSE syllabus rather than Tamil Nadu's state board curriculum, has suffered repeated paper leaks and irregularities, and has 'forfeited the trust of the students of this country.'
Supporters of retaining NEET (BJP and Union government)
The lone BJP MLA, M Bhojarajan, opposed the resolution and walked out before the vote; the Union government has not amended the central laws, and President Droupadi Murmu withheld assent to Tamil Nadu's earlier exemption bill in April 2025.
Medical admission criteria
Supporters of abolishing NEET (state parties and protesters)
Students should be admitted to undergraduate medical courses based on their Class 12 marks, as proposed in Tamil Nadu's exemption bill.
Supporters of retaining NEET (BJP and Union government)
NEET should remain the mandatory national entrance test for admission to undergraduate medical courses in India.
- Resolution
- Unanimous anti-NEET resolution passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly
- Key demand
- Abolish NEET for undergraduate medical admissions; admit students based on Class 12 marks
- Moved by
- Health Minister K G Arunraj
- Laws cited for amendment
- 2019 National Medical Commission Act; 2020 National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act; 2020 National Commission for Homoeopathy Act
- Cross-party support
- DMK, AIADMK, Left parties, PMK
- Dissenting
- Lone BJP MLA M Bhojarajan (walkout)
- Reasons cited
- Social justice, federalism, paper leaks, cancelled 2026 exam, 'untold mental agony' to students
- Protest context
- Ongoing anti-NEET hunger strike in Chennai on its 11th day; state's exemption bill awaits national legal and constitutional process
