‘NEET row is unnecessary’: AIADMK MP Thambi Durai says ‘coaching centres are responsible’

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MP Thambi Durai said on Sunday that “NEET row is unnecessary. There have been scandals. Because of it, the students are only going to coaching centres, the coaching centres are responsible.”

Speaking to the media after an all-party meeting, the AIADMK MP said the issue needs to be “thoroughly addressed.”

Earlier today, the government convened an all-party meeting ahead of Parliament's Monsoon Session with leaders from various political parties, including BJP president JP Nadda, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, Union minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan were among the 55 leaders from 44 parties who attended the meeting. Besides the special category status for states, issues of paper leaks, including the NEET, were featured during the discussion.

Pramod Tiwari and Gaurav Gogoi of Congress brought up issues related to NEET.

"Traditionally, an all-party meeting is held to raise issues related to the proceedings of the House. We want to discuss topics such as inflation, unemployment, paper leaks, security issues related to China, the removal of statues in Parliament, and the concerns of farmers and labourers. Additionally, we will make a concerted effort to discuss the issue of NEET," ANI quoted Tiwari saying before the meeting.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, put forth the government's view.

Separately, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam, NEET-UG 2024 held on 5 May.

According to the cause list of July 22 uploaded on the Supreme Court's website, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra would hear more than 40 pleas, including those filed by the NTA seeking transfer of cases pending against it in various high courts on the NEET-UG row to the apex court to avoid multiplicity of litigations.