Kerala Assembly Passes Resolution Against NEET Exams

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the Centre to take “urgent and effective steps” to reform the national examination system and quickly restore public trust.

Higher Education Minister Roji M John moved the resolution under Rule 118 of the Assembly Rules and Procedure, which lets a minister raise matters of public interest. The resolution comes amid reports of question paper leaks, irregularities in exam conduct, administrative and technical glitches at test centres, and evaluation errors, all of which have sparked serious doubts about the reliability, transparency, and neutrality of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

The resolution stated that frequent complaints, repeated investigations, and ongoing court interventions have undermined public trust in an exam that serves as a gateway to students’ higher education dreams. In a notable political move, the three BJP members in the Assembly including former union Minister V Muraleedharan, did not reject the resolution outright but sought changes to a paragraph criticising the NDA government at the Centre.

The last line of the second paragraph called it ‘reprehensible’ that the Centre and its agencies failed to promptly acknowledge the issues and take corrective action after serious failures and irregularities in the conduct of NEET came to light.

Muraleedharan said the Centre took swift action soon after the failures by “persons appointed by the NTA” came to light, adding that a retest was held at the request of the Prime Minister and the education minister. At this point, Speaker Thiruvanchaoor Radhakrishnan asked him to present his amendment and avoid making a political speech. Muraleedharan complied but proposed changing the last sentence of the Resolution’s second paragraph to read: “This Assembly praises the Centre and central agencies for quickly and effectively addressing failures caused by certain persons in conducting the examination.” The Higher Education Minister, however, rejected the changes made by the BJP legislator.

The resolution stated that the poor conduct of the NEET examination violated the principles of equal opportunity and social justice guaranteed by the Constitution. It further pointed out that the NEET fiasco is not an isolated incident. Other national exams conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), like the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), UGC-CSIR NEET UG, as well as exams by other central bodies such as the Staff Selection Commission and Railway Recruitment Board, have also faced issues like question paper leaks, postponements, cancellations, technical glitches, security failures, and administrative negligence. Seen alongside the irregularities reported in the conduct of the CBSE Plus Two examinations, it’s clear that there are serious structural and administrative flaws inherent in the country’s entrance and selection tests.

It said the only way forward is a comprehensive central law mandating the installation of unbreachable security features at every stage of the examination process, along with an independent monitoring mechanism. The resolution also emphasised the importance of seeking timely input from states while formulating policy decisions related to national-level entrance tests, as education comes within the Concurrent List.

“A mechanism to strengthen such discussions should be put in place,” it added.