With four of its candidates among the Top 10 in NEET-2023, 31 scoring 700 or more (out of 720) and 386 getting more than 650 marks, Tamil Nadu again emerged as one of the top-performing states this year.
The total number of candidates qualifying from Tamil Nadu increased from 67,787 in 2022 to 78,693 in 2023 while 12,349 more candidates appeared this year.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan called Tamil Nadu’s opposition to NEET “purely political”. “Students of Tamil Nadu have accepted NEET wholeheartedly and I congratulate them for their excellent performance. Students’ interests should be paramount and they should no longer be misled,” he said.
E Balagurusamy, former vice-chancellor of Anna University, Chennai, said politicians opposed NEET without seeing its advantages as many of the private medical colleges are run by them. “TN’s opposition is purely political. They have no idea of the advantages. It is the only level playing field and unlike preNEET days, even poor students are now performing well and securing admissions. TN politicians should drop the protest in the interest of the students,” he said.
Tamil Nadu had argued that NEET favoured the rich, urban students and did not provide a level playing field to those without proper access to the internet. Data show that the percentage of rural students joining medical colleges dropped from 62% in 2016-16 to48% in 2018-19. During the same time, the percentage of students with family income below Rs 2. 5 lakh joining medical colleges also dropped from 54% to 32%. The state argued that students were forced to join coaching centres to crack the test. With this, the average age of students joining medicine also increased.
In its poll manifesto in 2021, DMK promised to abolish the test in the state and M K Stalin’s government thereafter introduced a bill for exemption of the students from TN. The President is yet to give assent to the bill.
Some academics said even private medical colleges have benefited from NEET. “The quality of students has improved, which is key for any good institution and the admission process has become systematic and transparent,” said Manojranjan Nayak, founder president, Siksha OAnusandhan, Odisha, which was ranked 16th in medical science and 9th in dental education in NIRF 2023.
Joseph Emmanuel, director (academics) CBSE who was the OSD of the first edition of NEET, said, “NEET was a new reform and the opposition was due to the fear of the unseen. Without knowing facts, it was based on perception. Given the fact that different (education) boards have different patterns and standards of assessment, it could not have been possible to rank students at all India level on a uniform standard without introducing a common entrance examination. ”
NEET-UG replaced All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) and pre-medical exams conducted by states and medical colleges. However, it faced opposition from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal and TN.
The total number of candidates qualifying from Tamil Nadu increased from 67,787 in 2022 to 78,693 in 2023 while 12,349 more candidates appeared this year.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan called Tamil Nadu’s opposition to NEET “purely political”. “Students of Tamil Nadu have accepted NEET wholeheartedly and I congratulate them for their excellent performance. Students’ interests should be paramount and they should no longer be misled,” he said.
E Balagurusamy, former vice-chancellor of Anna University, Chennai, said politicians opposed NEET without seeing its advantages as many of the private medical colleges are run by them. “TN’s opposition is purely political. They have no idea of the advantages. It is the only level playing field and unlike preNEET days, even poor students are now performing well and securing admissions. TN politicians should drop the protest in the interest of the students,” he said.
Tamil Nadu had argued that NEET favoured the rich, urban students and did not provide a level playing field to those without proper access to the internet. Data show that the percentage of rural students joining medical colleges dropped from 62% in 2016-16 to48% in 2018-19. During the same time, the percentage of students with family income below Rs 2. 5 lakh joining medical colleges also dropped from 54% to 32%. The state argued that students were forced to join coaching centres to crack the test. With this, the average age of students joining medicine also increased.
In its poll manifesto in 2021, DMK promised to abolish the test in the state and M K Stalin’s government thereafter introduced a bill for exemption of the students from TN. The President is yet to give assent to the bill.
Some academics said even private medical colleges have benefited from NEET. “The quality of students has improved, which is key for any good institution and the admission process has become systematic and transparent,” said Manojranjan Nayak, founder president, Siksha OAnusandhan, Odisha, which was ranked 16th in medical science and 9th in dental education in NIRF 2023.
Joseph Emmanuel, director (academics) CBSE who was the OSD of the first edition of NEET, said, “NEET was a new reform and the opposition was due to the fear of the unseen. Without knowing facts, it was based on perception. Given the fact that different (education) boards have different patterns and standards of assessment, it could not have been possible to rank students at all India level on a uniform standard without introducing a common entrance examination. ”
NEET-UG replaced All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) and pre-medical exams conducted by states and medical colleges. However, it faced opposition from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal and TN.
