 "'Abolish NEET, restore state-led exams': Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi")
In a letter criticising the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abolish the exam amidst ongoing controversy. In her strongly worded letter, Banerjee pointed out alleged incidents of paper leaks, bribery, and administrative issues that have affected this year’s NEET-UG process.
“I am constrained to write to you regarding the recent developments involving the NEET examination. The allegations of paper leak, taking bribes by certain people and the officials involved in the conduct of the examinations, the opening of window to accommodate certain students to apply for examinations, grace marks, etc, are some of the serious issues that need complete attention and requires a thorough, clean and impartial probe,” Banerjee wrote in her communication.
“Such instances jeopardise the career and aspirations of lakhs and lakhs of students who look forward to getting admission into these medical courses. Such instances not only compromise the quality of medical education in the country but adversely affect the quality of medical facilities/treatment in the country,” Banerjee said.
In her letter, Banerjee noted that states were permitted to conduct their own entrance examinations for medical courses before 2017, and this arrangement operated without issues.
“In this regard, this is also to point out that before 2017, the states were allowed to conduct their own entrance examinations and the central government also used to conduct its own examinations for admission into the medical courses. This system was functioning smoothly and without much problems,” the letter read.
“This was better attuned to the regional curricula and educational standards. The state government usually spends more than Rs 50 lakh per doctor on education and internship. Therefore, the state should be given freedom to select medical students through Joint Entrance Examination,” Banerjee said.
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“The decentralised system was later changed to a unitary and centralised system of examination (NEET) to take complete control of all the admissions in the country in the medical courses without any involvement of the state governments. This is completely unacceptable and violates the true spirits of the federal structure of the country,” Mamata Banerjee said.
“Further, the present system has led to massive corruption which benefits only the rich who can afford to pay, while the meritorious students belonging to the poor and middle class suffer and are the biggest victims,” she added.
“Therefore, I strongly urge upon you to consider and take immediate steps to restore the previous system of conducting this examination by the state governments and abolish the NEET examination. This will help restore normalcy and confidence of the aspirant students in the system,” she urged PM Modi in her letter.
This comes at a time when the Mamata Banerjee government is facing West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam case in the Calcutta High Court. The case pertains to West Bengal SSC recruitments dating back to 2016, wherein the hiring processes faced several challenges, including multiple petitions filed in the High Court of Calcutta alleging irregularities. Petitioners alleged that many candidates who scored lower grades were placed higher on the merit list, and some individuals who did not appear on the merit list received appointment letter.
Bengal’s teacher recruitment scam
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation was launched on the West Bengal School Service Commission recruitment following an order of a Calcutta High Court bench, which led to the arrest of former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and several officials from the West Bengal School Service Commission in July 2022 for their alleged involvement in illegal teacher recruitment.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids conducted at the Kolkata residences of Chatterjee’s close aides uncovered approximately Rs 21 crore in cash and jewellery worth over Rs 1 crore.
The CBI and ED are currently probing irregularities surrounding the recruitment of group C and group D staff as well as teachers in government-run and aided schools across West Bengal.
According to The Indian Express, initial petitions cited 25 illicit appointments via the SSC, a figure that later escalated to 500 in subsequent filings.
The CBI investigation highlighted serious malpractice, including allegations that question papers and answer keys were manipulated to favour undeserving candidates. India Today’s report mentions that individuals who had failed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) or were otherwise ineligible managed to secure positions as assistant teachers in primary schools. Some allegedly submitted blank exam papers but still received appointments based solely on personal details.
In 2022, the CBI’s scrutiny focused on 269 appointments of primary school teachers in government-run and aided schools deemed illegal due to purported non-clearance of the TET.
The NEET exam leak controversy
The central government faces intense backlash following the tumultuous handling of this year’s NEET-UG medical entrance exam. Held on May 5 across 4,750 centres nationwide, the exam saw a staggering 2.4 million candidates in attendance. Originally slated for June 14, the results unexpectedly surfaced on June 4. Notably, 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720, marking an unprecedented milestone in the history of the NTA. Of these achievers, six hailed from a single centre in Faridabad, Haryana, triggering concerns of foul play.
Adding fuel to the fire, controversy erupted over the allocation of ‘grace marks’ to compensate for lost time at six examination centres. Amid mounting pressure, the Centre informed the court of its decision to rescind the grace marks, prompting over 1,500 students to be offered a second chance through a retest.