Long before the NTA paper leak row, why did states oppose NEET?

The education rights body SPCSS‑TN submitted a memorandum to the High‑Powered Task Force on examinations, urging the abolition of the National Testing Agency and any centralised undergraduate entrance examinations. The memorandum argues that admissions to medical courses should be based solely on students’ state board examination scores and proposes using Tamil Nadu’s existing normalisation process for all‑India quota seats.

The earliest reference to a national eligibility test for medical courses appears in a December 2010 notification by the then Medical Council of India, followed by another in 2012. The first NEET was conducted by CBSE in 2013, but the Supreme Court set aside the framework that same year. After legal battles, the Court reinstated a common test in 2016, with the AIPMT effectively becoming the first phase of NEET, and from 2017 NEET became the sole entrance route for undergraduate medical seats. The National Testing Agency was created in 2018 and began administering NEET‑UG from 2019. Tamil Nadu, which previously used Class 12 marks for professional‑course admissions, has consistently opposed the shift, citing disadvantages for its board students, while states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka also raised objections during the 2016 debates.

Tamil Nadu’s resistance is rooted in concerns over syllabus differences, the dominance of coaching centres, language barriers, and the impact on rural and socially‑backward students. The state links the issue to its reservation policies and broader social‑justice goals, arguing that a centrally administered test could erode state autonomy over education. The ongoing dispute highlights the tension between national standardisation and regional educational autonomy, affecting millions of aspirants seeking medical education across India.