Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned in the wake of the protests, but questions over NEET’s conduct and future remain far from settled.
As protests over alleged NEET paper leaks and examination irregularities swept the country, the debate has expanded far beyond the conduct of a single entrance test. Like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka has revived an older demand: to scrap the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and restore the state’s Common Entrance Test (CET) for medical admissions.
Unlike several other states where the protests were centred around alleged paper leaks, Karnataka’s opposition to NEET predates the recent controversy. Educationists, activists, pro-Kannada organisations and political leaders have long argued that the state’s earlier CET model was fairer, more inclusive and better suited to students from rural and government-school backgrounds.
Also read: NEET-UG results under scrutiny over alleged marks discrepancies
The renewed debate has also reignited demands to move education back to the State List, allowing states to once again conduct their own professional entrance examinations.
From state to national level
Before NEET was introduced, admissions to medical colleges across India were governed by multiple entrance examinations. States conducted their own tests while institutions held separate admission exams. Karnataka’s Common Entrance Test (CET), introduced in the early 1990s, became one of the country’s most recognised admission models.
The landscape changed in 2013 with the introduction of NEET as a single national medical entrance examination. However, legal challenges from several states and private institutions led the Supreme Court to suspend the system temporarily during 2014 and 2015, allowing the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) to continue.
In April 2016, the Supreme Court upheld NEET’s constitutional validity, paving the way for its return. From 2017 onwards, NEET became the mandatory entrance examination for admissions to government and private medical colleges across India, barring few exceptions. Since 2019, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has been responsible for conducting the examination.
Also read: SC to closely monitor Centre’s measures to prevent future NEET paper leaks
Since then, critics have repeatedly questioned the functioning of the national testing system. Opposition parties and activists have alleged repeated examination irregularities, including question paper leaks across various competitive examinations conducted by the NTA. Tamil Nadu, for instance, has been opposing NEET for many years.
Why Karnataka continues to favour CET?
The state’s preference for CET is rooted in its own experience.
The Karnataka Education Act came into force in 1983, but the state’s admission reforms gathered pace in 1992, when then Education Minister M Veerappa Moily introduced the Common Entrance Test to curb the growing commercialisation of professional education and the capitation fee system.
When Moily became Chief Minister in 1994, Karnataka formally established a dedicated CET Cell, making it the first state in the country to institutionalise a common entrance examination. The model was later adopted in different forms by several other states. Today, the CET Cell functions as the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA).
Under the earlier system, only students who had studied in Karnataka for at least seven years were eligible for the examination. Supporters argue that this ensured more than 85 per cent of medical seats remained accessible to students from within the state, particularly those from rural and middle-class families.
Even when irregularities such as the seat-blocking scam surfaced during counselling, the state government acted against the private medical colleges involved, reinforcing confidence in the system, supporters say.
Also read: NEET protests: Delhi lit the spark, and small towns, cities are keeping it burning
Former IAS officer V. Rashmi Mahesh, who served as Secretary of Karnataka’s Medical Education Department, had also publicly opposed the introduction of a national-level entrance examination, arguing that state-based systems were better equipped to address local educational realities.
How CET and NEET differ
Supporters of CET argue that the differences between the two systems go well beyond who conducts the examination.
One of the biggest differences lies in the syllabus.
The Karnataka CET was based on the state’s Pre-University Course (PUC) curriculum, allowing students from government and rural schools to compete on relatively equal footing.
NEET, however, is based primarily on the CBSE curriculum. Critics argue that students studying under various state boards begin at a disadvantage unless they undergo additional coaching.
Dependence on coaching institutes
Another major criticism relates to the coaching industry. Education activists argue that NEET has fuelled the rapid growth of private coaching centres, with many students spending several lakh rupees preparing for a single examination.
Supporters of the earlier CET model contend that students relied far less on expensive coaching because rankings considered both entrance examination performance and Class 12 academic scores.
Negative marking
The examination formats also differ. CET did not have negative marking, enabling students to attempt questions without the fear of losing marks for incorrect answers.
NEET follows a negative marking system, where wrong answers reduce the overall score. Critics argue that even minor mistakes can significantly affect a student’s rank.
Perhaps the strongest argument concerns seat allocation.
Before NEET, Karnataka students competed primarily for seats within the state.
Following the introduction of NEET, 15 per cent of government medical seats fall under the All India Quota, allowing candidates from across the country to compete for them. Several organisations argue that this has reduced opportunities for local students despite Karnataka having one of the country’s largest medical education infrastructures.
Growing demand to restore state autonomy
The recent student protests have renewed calls for education to be returned to the State List, where it remained until 1976. Campaigns such as ‘Namma Nadu, Namma Aalvike’ have begun collecting public support for abolishing NEET and restoring the CET model in Karnataka.
RTI activist Hanume Gowda has argued that while the Centre can frame broad educational policies, improving education and conducting admissions should remain the responsibility of individual states.
Former Karnataka Education Minister B Somashekar has also called for the restoration of state-level entrance examinations, arguing that states are better placed to conduct transparent admission processes suited to their own educational systems.
Former minister and activist B.T. Lalitha Nayak has similarly urged the Centre to abolish NEET, citing growing stress among students and increasing reports of student suicides linked to competitive examinations.
While at it, have you read our special stories on NEET, escalating job situation from across the country?
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