’Abolish NEET exam’: Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi amid paper leak row, says ‘this will help…’

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo (TMC) Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to ‘abolish’ the NEET examination. A row erupted after several students secured perfect scores and a paper leaked on the immensely competitive nation examination.

The TMC leader asked PM Modi to revert to the system of conducting the exam by states in the wake of the paper leak row.

In the letter to the PM Modi, Mamata Banerjee also called for strong action against those involved in the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam.

“I strongly urge upon you to consider and take immediate steps to restore the previous system of conducting this examination by the state governments and abolish the NEET examination.

“This will help restore normalcy and confidence of the aspirant students in the system,” she said.

NEET-UG 2024 Exam Row

Amid a demand for the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduates (NEET-UG) exam held on May 5, the Union Education Ministry has said that the incidents of malpractices were "localised" or "isolated" and it was not fair to jeopardise the careers of lakhs of candidates who cleared the exam rightfully.

Incidences of paper leak and malpractice also led to the Union Education Ministry cancelling UGC-Net only a day after it was conducted.

In a domino like effect, CSIR-NET was postponed. Further NEET-PG examination was cancelled less then twenty four hours before it was to be conducted.

The CBI has lodged an FIR citing alleged irregularities, including criminal conspiracy and cheating under IPC sections 120-B and 420. Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the UGC-NET-2024 exam on June 18 in two shifts nationwide, aimed at selecting junior research fellows, assistant professors, and PhD scholars.

The exam was postponed after the government said that the "integrity of the examination may have been compromised".

The NEET-UG exam, administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA), is pivotal for admissions into MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses at government and private institutions nationwide.