On Friday, August 2, a private member's resolution was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, urging the government to pass a law removing education from the concurrent list, and to repeal the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) and the National Testing Agency (NTA), hence allowing states to conduct their medical entrance exams, reported PTI.
What did the resolution seek for?
The resolution was moved by Mohamed Abdulla, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) member from Tamil Nadu, during the private member business in the afternoon session of the Rajya Sabha, the government opposed the resolution, arguing that it would go against the Supreme Court's verdict on the NEET issue.
The resolution called on the Rajya Sabha to urge the government to legislate the removal of education from the concurrent list and move it to the state list in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
It also proposed the repeal of NEET and NTA, reverting to medical admissions based on the criteria of state governments, which are tailored to the unique needs of each state, as per PTI.
Additionally, the resolution sought a compensation of Rs 1 crore for families affected by the NEET exam.
Injustice inflicted upon domiciled students
Moving the resolution, Abdulla delineated the, "injustice inflicted on domiciled students of states and infringement upon the autonomy of state governments in the field of medical education".
He further commented that the NEET exam is flawed in the way of selection of eligible candidates and mentioned that the current issues with NEET include question paper leaks, the irresponsible allocation of grace marks, and the NTA's failure to conduct the exam impartially without prejudice to students.
The move did not go unopposed, as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary intervened and said that the resolution goes against several parliamentary norms.
They said the Supreme Court gave directions in 2018 and after those directions and judgments, NEET exam was being conducted by NTA.
Ministers say NEET not a fair system
Chaudhary further asked Abdullah to withdraw the resolution, but many opposition members, including CPI(M)'s John Brittas and V Sivadasan, the AAP's Raghav Chadha and Congress' Shaktisinh Gohil argued that not allowing a member of the house to move a resolution may lead to an infringement of his rights.
Other members such as Jawhar Sircar of the Trinamool Congress claimed that the NEET system favours students from the CBSE board and is not fair to students of the state boards.
NR Elango of the DMK criticised NEET as being contrary to the spirit of federalism and detrimental to students. He called on all political parties to support its abolition.
Raghav Chadha pointed out the significant gap between education and employability in the country, noting that NEET aspirants are suffering due to systemic corruption. He urged the government to carry out a thorough investigation and hold those responsible for the NEET issues accountable.
Manoj Kumar Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) sought the abolition of both NTA and NEET, MP John Brittas noted the matter impacts millions of students and their families, and therefore there is a need to discuss the matter in detail and find a solution, reported PTI.
