West Bengal Assembly passes resolution to scrap NEET; plans to conduct own medical exam

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution to scrap NEET and bring in its place a new entrance test for medical aspirants. The moves a few days after the Karnataka cabinet gave its nod to bring a resolution in the assembly against NEET. West Bengal's resolution, tabled by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay on Tuesday, condemned the National Testing Agency (NTA), alleging it was unable to conduct a free and fair entrance test for students interested in a career in medical science. It urged the West Bengal government to resume conducting joint entrance examinations in the state.

Speaking in favour of the resolution, state Education Minister Bratya Basu said, "I have got to know from the media that question papers were leaked for Rs 30-40 lakh. The future of 24 lakh children in the country is being ruined. Leave this test to us. We can conduct it in a transparent manner." Basu said the date for announcing the results of the NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) was rescheduled to June 4, the day when the results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared. "I believe that it was preponed to cover up something else. NEET scam is just the tip of the iceberg," he said. The state education minister said there are two stages of the NEET "scam". "One is the grace marks and another is number fraud. This year, 67 people secured 720 to appear first in the NEET exam. But last year, the number was only two or three. It is not clear who was given how much grace marks," he said, adding that the Trinamool Congress has been against NEET.

Karnataka approves resolution against NEET

The cabinet of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday gave its approval to adopt a resolution against NEET. The resolution is likely to be tabled during the ongoing assembly session. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had recently urged the Centre to scrap NEET and allow states to conduct their own entrance tests. Incidentally, on June 24, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take immediate steps to abolish NEET and restore the previous system of the state governments conducting the test. She had said that the restoration would bring back normalcy and the aspirants' confidence in the system.

The NDA government at the Centre and the NTA have been facing criticism and protests, in the streets and Parliament, over alleged large-scale malpractices such as question paper leak, fraud and impersonation in the prestigious test held on May 5. Earlier in the day, the West Bengal Assembly witnessed heated exchange of words between MLAs of the ruling TMC and opposition BJP, who demanded a discussion on allegations of assault and abuse of women in the state. Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay allowed the proposal to be read but did not accept the demand for discussion. After that BJP members staged a walkout and staged a demonstration outside the assembly.