Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the NEET UG 2024 exam, the Karnataka government has passed a resolution calling for scrapping the exam. Based on this resolution, the state government will follow the same steps as neighbouring Tamil Nadu and conduct its own entrance exam for medical aspirants.
The Karnataka cabinet, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, approved the resolution to scrap the NEET exam in the state. With this, the state government will work towards a new medical entrance exam for both undergraduate and postgraduate admissions.
These Anti-NEET resolutions will now be presented during the current session of the state legislative assembly.
This decision by the Karnataka government also comes days after Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar called on the Central government to scrap NEET and allow states to conduct their own entrance exams.
The irregularities in the NEET exam are serious. It is a question of the future of lakhs of students. The Centre must scrap NEET and allow states to conduct their own entrance tests. Students from across the country can participate in the tests conducted by states,” stated Shivkumar.
With this, Karnataka joins the list of state to openly opposing the NEET exam. Before Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the DMK government have been opposing the conduct of the NEET Exam and have passed the Anti-NEET bill several times.
In 2021, the DMK government was locked in a feud with Governor R.N Ravi over the Anti-NEET bill. As per the Tamil Nadu government, the NEET exam is "discriminatory and disadvantageous to rural students who wish to pursue a career in Medicine."
The governor refused to send the bill for presidential assent and stated that the bill and the state's reasoning behind it goes against a Supreme Court order upholding the NEET exam.
