PMK chief Anbumani Ramadoss has sought NEET abolition, citing Tamil Nadu's data showing only five per cent of government school students under its 7.5% quota cleared the exam on the first attempt, raising concerns over coaching costs.PMK chief demands NEET abolition, cites only 5% Tamil Nadu quota students clearing exam first time (File photo) PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss has called for an urgent review and abolition of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), citing admission data that shows only 5 per cent of Tamil Nadu government school students admitted under the state's 7.5 per cent reservation cleared the medical entrance examination in their first attempt.In a statement on Saturday, Ramadoss said the number of attempts required by students admitted to MBBS courses in government and private medical colleges in Tamil Nadu raises serious questions about whether NEET has achieved its stated objectives.He argued that if more than 95 per cent of medical aspirants need multiple attempts to secure admission, the effectiveness of the examination system warrants critical scrutiny.ONLY 33 OF 650 STUDENTS CLEARED NEET EXAM IN FIRST ATTEMPTReferring to government data for the 2025–26 academic year, Ramadoss said only 33 of the 650 government school students admitted under Tamil Nadu's 7.5 per cent reservation across government and private medical colleges cleared NEET in their first attempt. The remaining 617 students secured admission after multiple attempts.
Of these, 235 qualified on their second attempt, 283 on their third, 91 on their fourth, six on their fifth, and two after six or more attempts.80% OF REMAINING GOVT QUOTA STUDENTS NEEDED MULTIPLE ATTEMPTSRamadoss said a similar pattern was evident among students admitted under the remaining 92.5 per cent government quota seats. Of the 8,053 students admitted in this category across government and private medical colleges, only 1,613, or 20 per cent, cleared NEET on their first attempt.
The remaining 6,440 students required between two and six or more attempts to qualify.The PMK leader said Tamil Nadu's 7.5 per cent reservation was introduced to address the inability of government school students to afford expensive private coaching.However, he argued that the fact that 95 per cent of these students required multiple attempts and additional years of preparation meant economically disadvantaged families were increasingly being pushed into debt to finance specialised coaching classes.Ramadoss described this as evidence of the commercialisation of medical education.NEET WAS MEANT TO CURB COMMERCIALISATION, SAYS PMK CHIEFRecalling the introduction of NEET in 2010 and its mandatory implementation in 2017, Ramadoss said the Union government had maintained that the examination would curb commercialisation and improve the quality of medical education.He questioned whether the examination had delivered on those objectives, citing the admission data and the financial burden on students and their families.(With PTI inputs)- Ends