NEET paper leak, cancellation proof of structural flaws, abolish test says TN CM Vijay

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday said that the NEET exam paper leak and cancellation of the test was proof of structural flaws and demanded that it be abolished and states permitted to fill seats on their own based on Class 12 marks.

Vijay said the cancellation of the exam following the alleged leak of the question paper has shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country.

In a statement, the CM said this was not the first time NEET has been "compromised."

In 2024, the question paper was leaked and FIRs were registered across six States and transferred to the CBI.

Pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court, the Union Government constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts under Dr K Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of ISRO, which submitted 95 comprehensive recommendations for reforms.

Despite all this, within two years, another paper leak has occurred and the examination has been cancelled.

"This is conclusive proof of flaws and structural flaws in a national level exam," he alleged.

The government of Tamil Nadu has been consistently and unanimously opposing NEET since its very inception.

The introduction of NEET has severely disadvantaged the students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil medium backgrounds, and socio-economically disadvantaged families, he said.

The CM reiterated what he said was the state's "long pending demand" to abolish NEET and urged the union government to permit the states to fill all seats under the state quota in MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses on the basis of Class 12 marks.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG 2026) was conducted by the National Testing Agency on May 3, 2026 across 5,432 centres.

In Tamil Nadu alone, the examination was held across 31 cities.

As many as 22,05,035 candidates appeared for the examination, including approximately 1.4 lakh candidates from Tamil Nadu.

The National Testing Agency cancelled the examination with the approval of the Government of India, following investigations by law enforcement agencies into the alleged leakage of the question paper.

The matter has been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation for an inquiry, the CM added in the statement.