During the presentation of the Tamil Nadu TVK government’s first budget in the state assembly on August 5, 2026, Finance Minister N. Marie Wilson called on the Centre to scrap the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) and revert to medical admissions based on Class 12 board examination marks.
1. Key Highlights: TVK Government’s Stance
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Demand for Class 12-Based Admissions: C. Joseph Vijay’s administration urged the Union Government to eliminate NEET, arguing that repeated paper leaks create unfair hardship for students and undermine state autonomy in medical education.
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Context of the 2026 Paper Leak: The demand follows significant nationwide disruption after the May 3, 2026 NEET-UG paper leak, which led to the cancellation of the initial test on May 12 and a subsequent re-examination held on June 21, 2026.
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Call for State Autonomy: TVK reiterated its long-standing position that individual states should be given complete legislative authority to manage medical admissions and healthcare education policy.
2. Centre’s Compliance & Reform Roadmap Before the Supreme Court
In response to Supreme Court directions asking how future examinations will be secured, the Ministry of Education filed a comprehensive compliance affidavit outlining structural overhauls:
| Reform Area | Implementation Strategy |
| High-Powered Task Force (HPTF) | A dedicated committee headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani (constituted on July 27) mandated to deliver end-to-end reform recommendations within three months. |
| Legal Framework & Anti-Leak Laws | Implementation of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Act, 2026, introducing stricter criminal penalties for paper leaks, impersonation, and digital system tampering. |
| Emerging Tech Safeguards | Leverage AI-driven anomaly detection and blockchain verification to secure question paper distribution and exam administration. |
| Institutional Memory | Building systematic data archives to analyze past vulnerabilities, streamline oversight, and standardise security protocols across successive examination cycles. |
