TN NEET Resolution: Why Vijay’s Government Can’t Scrap the Exam Alone and How Class 12 Marks-Based Medical Admissions Would Work
On August 11, 2026, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed a resolution urging the Union government to abolish the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical admissions and allow the state to select students solely on the basis of Class 12 marks. The move, led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government, was moved by Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Minister K.G. Arunraj. It received broad support from the DMK, AIADMK, PMK and Left parties. The lone BJP MLA, M. Bhojarajan, opposed it and staged a walkout.
The resolution reflects Tamil Nadu’s long-standing and cross-party resistance to NEET. Successive governments in the state have argued that the national entrance examination undermines social justice, equality of opportunity and the federal balance of power in education. The latest resolution specifically calls on the Centre to amend the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020, the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2020, and related central laws so that Tamil Nadu can fill its state-quota seats in MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses on the basis of higher secondary examination performance.
Why Tamil Nadu Continues to Oppose NEET
Tamil Nadu’s core objections have remained consistent for years. Officials and lawmakers argue that a single-day competitive examination disadvantages students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil-medium backgrounds and socio-economically weaker families. These students typically lack the financial resources to attend expensive private coaching centres that have proliferated in urban centres. The resolution notes that NEET has shifted the focus of medical aspirants away from the regular school curriculum toward commercial coaching, creating an uneven playing field.
The Assembly also highlighted repeated irregularities in the conduct of NEET, including paper leaks. The cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 and the subsequent re-examination caused significant distress to lakhs of students. The resolution explicitly cited “paper leaks, loss of young lives [and] forfeiture of students’ trust” as reasons for demanding abolition. Health Minister Arunraj emphasised that one day’s performance should not outweigh twelve years of school education. He and other supporters maintained that the pre-NEET system, based on board examination marks, had enabled greater representation of students from disadvantaged sections in medical colleges.
This position is not new. In 2021, the then DMK government passed the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, which sought to exempt the state from NEET and restore admissions based on Class 12 marks through a normalisation process. That bill was reserved for the President’s consideration and has not received assent. Chief Minister Vijay has repeatedly raised the demand, including at NITI Aayog meetings, arguing that the examination structure privileges those who can afford intensive coaching while excluding many meritorious students from rural and poorer backgrounds.
Why a State Resolution Cannot End NEET by Itself
Despite the political consensus within Tamil Nadu, the resolution has no direct legal force to scrap NEET. Education is listed in the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, allowing both the Union and the states to legislate on the subject. When a state law conflicts with a central law, the central law prevails unless the President gives assent to the state legislation under Article 254(2).
NEET is mandated by central statutes, principally the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, and corresponding laws governing Indian systems of medicine and homoeopathy. These laws require a common national entrance test for admission to undergraduate medical courses across the country. A state assembly resolution is merely an official expression of the state’s policy position and an appeal to the Centre. It does not amend or override central legislation.
For Tamil Nadu to operate a different system, either Parliament must amend the relevant central Acts to create an exemption, or the President must grant assent to a state bill that seeks to supersede the central framework for state-quota seats. The 2021 bill remains pending without such assent. Until one of these routes succeeds, NEET remains the mandatory pathway for medical admissions in Tamil Nadu, including for seats under the state quota.
Some voices within the TVK government have suggested longer-term constitutional solutions, such as shifting education entirely to the State List or creating a special concurrent list that would give states greater autonomy over medical admissions. Any such change would require a constitutional amendment and broad political consensus in Parliament, making it a more distant prospect.
How Medical Admissions Would Function Under a Class 12 Marks System
If the Centre were to grant the requested exemption or amend the laws, Tamil Nadu has a ready blueprint drawn from its pre-2017 experience. Admissions would be based exclusively on marks obtained in the Higher Secondary (Plus Two) examination in the core science subjects: Physics, Chemistry and Biology (or Botany and Zoology).
Because students appear under different boards — the Tamil Nadu State Board, CBSE, ICSE and others — the state would apply a normalisation formula to create a level playing field. Under this method, the highest mark scored by any student in a particular subject within a given board is scaled to 100. Marks of all other students from that same board are then adjusted proportionally. For example, if the highest mark in Physics in one board is 96 and a student scores 80, the normalised score would be calculated as (100 × 80) / 96, yielding approximately 83.33. The same process is applied across boards and subjects so that performance is measured relative to the top score within each board rather than on raw absolute marks.
After normalisation, a common state-wide merit list would be prepared. The Directorate of Medical Education would conduct counselling, allocating seats according to the candidate’s rank, stated preferences and Tamil Nadu’s existing communal reservation policy. This system was used successfully before NEET became compulsory nationwide in 2017 and is already applied for certain paramedical courses in the state.
Supporters argue that this approach restores weight to consistent academic performance over twelve years of schooling, reduces dependence on commercial coaching, and better serves the goals of social justice and equitable access. Critics of the board-marks system have previously raised concerns about variations in evaluation standards across boards and the potential for mark inflation, which is precisely why the normalisation mechanism was designed.
The Larger Context and What Lies Ahead
The August 11 resolution is the latest chapter in a prolonged contest between Tamil Nadu’s insistence on state-level control over medical admissions and the Centre’s preference for a uniform national standard. The state frames the issue as one of federalism, educational equity and the protection of rural and disadvantaged students. The Union government has historically defended NEET as a transparent, merit-based and nationally consistent mechanism that reduces the scope for irregularities in individual state systems.
For now, the resolution strengthens Tamil Nadu’s political signal to New Delhi without altering the legal position on the ground. Medical aspirants in the state will continue to appear for NEET until the Centre either amends the governing laws or approves a state-level alternative. Whether the current push under Chief Minister Vijay produces movement on the pending 2021 bill or leads to fresh legislative negotiations remains to be seen. What is clear is that the debate over who controls the gateway to medical education in Tamil Nadu is far from settled.
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