Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday, September 21, launched a scathing attack on the Union government for lowering the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) cut off to zero. Condemning the decision as "meaningless", Stalin said it was detrimental to the merit based admission process.
"By reducing the NEET PG cut off to Zero, they are accepting that eligibility in National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test is meaningless. It is just about coaching centres and paying for the exam. No more qualification is required," Stalin said.
He further said, "NEET =0. NEET has nothing to do with merit , which we have been saying all along. It has been a mere formality , devoid of any real eligibility criteria."
The Chief Minister said that the BJP-led Union government remained heartless despite so many lives being lost and has now come up with an order like this. "The BJP government must be removed just for causing loss of lives with the guillotine called #NEET," he said on X.
Stalin's son and Tamil Nadu Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs,Udhayanidhi Stalin also out strongly against the Union government for reducing the NEET qualifying percentile for PG Medical admissions to zero. He said that the stand taken by the Union government has once again proved what his party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has been speaking about, alleging that NEET is an arrangement to make coaching centres and private medical colleges prosperous.
He also said that the Union government will have to answer questions on NEET injustice and the deaths of several poor students who had committed suicide in not clearing NEET.
The Tamil Nadu government had passed two bills in the state Legislative Assembly against NEET. The bills have been sent for assent by the President of India. The state government has been at logger heads with the Union government over NEET and has repeatedly highlighted the death of many students by suicide after not being able to clear the entrance test.