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In a late-night meeting on Monday, the cabinet led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also approved two more resolutions. (PTI data map)
Last week, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar urged the central government to scrap NEET and allow states to take their own entrance exams
The Karnataka cabinet on Monday approved a resolution to scrap the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in the state and replace it with a new entrance test for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.
In a late-night meeting on Monday, the cabinet led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also approved two other resolutions: one related to delimitation of state legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies and another against the “One Nation, One Election” “the concept of.
The resolutions are expected to be introduced during the current legislative session, possibly as soon as Tuesday, sources told the news agency PTI.
The development comes amid growing concerns over NEET. Last week, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar urged the central government to scrap NEET and allow states to conduct their own entrance exams.
“Irregularities in NEET exams are serious. This is a question for the future of lakhs of students. The Center must scrap NEET and allow states to conduct their own entrance tests. Students from across the country can appear for exams conducted by states .
He further criticized the impact on students from Karnataka and said, “Students from Karnataka are being treated unfairly. Karnataka has established universities but it has benefited students from North India, But it deprives its own students. We must unite and deal with it together. The Center must also investigate the irregularities in the NEET exam.
Earlier, in 2021, the Tamil Nadu DMK government passed legislation seeking exemption from NEET, with Chief Minister MK Stalin calling the exam discriminatory and detrimental to rural people who aspire to pursue a medical career. A similar attempt was made by the AIADMK government under Edappadi K Palaniswami, but the bill failed to get presidential assent in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched an investigation into multiple alleged irregularities and question paper leaks in the NEET-UG 2024 examination and has lodged six FIRs so far.
NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency NTA and is the admission route to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions.
(Inputs from PTI)
