The protests against NEET continued at Balan Illam, the office of the CPI in Chennai.
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As national outcry against issues with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET) picks up steam, multiple demonstrations have sprung up across Chennai with calls for the complete abolition of the centralised exam for medical courses. At a protest in the CPI State Office, a crowd of predominantly youngsters raised slogans calling for the complete scrapping of NEET examinations as well as the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.The slogannering was followed by a song celebrating the revolutionary Bhagat Singh. Referring to him as a symbol of against oppression, the singer urged the students to invoke his spirit of courage and unite against an unjust education system.A protestor at the event, who works as a counsellor for college admissions suggests that many students in the State aspire to be doctors but bury the dream because they are unable to afford NEET fees.“I speak to so many students pursuing a bachelor of science in Veterinary Studies . Most of them once dreamed of becoming doctors. But because of financial hardship,they quietly buried that dream. They worked hard in Classes 10 and 12,scored good marks but finally had to settle for Veterinary Science instead,” he said. Social justice modelArvind Subramanayam, another protester, emphasised that NEET is against Tamil Nadu’s social justice model, which has historically given education access to students from rural, and economically earker sections.“They say that the paper is translated to regional languages. But anyone who has given the exam knows that the translation is not accurate and causes mismatch. Also, the Tamil Nadu Board curriculum has always focused on descriptive answers, whereas NEET is an objective, multiple-choice examination which means you require specialised coaching,” he said. He added that the proposal to shift NEET to a computer-based format will further widen the digital divide and disadvantage rural students. Meanwhile, the protester organiser demanded that the goal must not only be to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET but to completely abolish it across the country and give states the autonomy for medical admissions. Published on July 24, 2026
