“Exemption from NEET is the only solution”: TVK founder Vijay

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 3 (ANI): Tamil actor Thalapathy Vijay on Wednesday made a bold stance against NEET, advocating for underprivileged students, unified education and said that people have lost faith in NEET examination.

Aligning with various Tamil Nadu politician voices, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam founder and actor Vijay said, “”People have lost faith in NEET examination. The nation doesn’t need NEET. Exemption from NEET is the only solution. I wholeheartedly welcome resolution against NEET which was passed in the State Assembly. I request the Union Government to respect the emotions of the people of Tamil Nadu people. Education should be brought under the State List from Concurrent list.”

The NEET-UG exam faced controversies with issues like grace marks, allegations of paper leaks, and other irregularities. The UGC-NET exam was cancelled after being conducted, and the CSIR-NET and NEET-PG exams have been postponed. Against this backdrop, there has been ongoing debate about transferring education back to the state list.

“It is so true that Tamil Nadu students especially poor students from villages, backward class students, most backward class students and oppressed students are getting affected because of NEET,” Vijay said while speaking at a TVK function.

Vijay argued that the NEET is against state autonomy and said that “one nation, one syllabus, and one exam” can not be accepted.

“NEET is against state autonomy. Before 1975, education was on the state list. The Union Government brought education onto the concurrent list. Then only issues started. Secondly, one nation, one syllabus, and one exam are against the basic concept of education. This is not only asking for State autonomy; education should be approached from various perspectives and aspects. Diversity is a strength but not a weakness,” Vijay said.

The 42nd constitutional amendment (1976) shifted ‘education’ from the State list to the concurrent list.

Vijay also raised how “unfair” it is to conduct exams for students from the NCERT syllabus who read under the State syllabus.

“There were a lot of irregularities on NEET exams recently. People lost faith in NEET exams. From this, we came to understand that this nation doesn’t need NEET. Exemption from NEET is the only immediate solution. I wholeheartedly welcome the Tamil Nadu resolution against NEET, which was passed by the assembly. I request the Union Government without delaying respect for the emotions of Tamil Nadu people,” Vijay said.

Vijay said education should be on the state list, not the concurrent list.

“As an interim solution, the Indian Constitution should be amended to create a ‘Special Concurrent list’ and education and health should be added there. In the present concurrent list, the Union Government has more power over all departments than the respective state government. This is my suggestion,” Vijay said.

Vijay’s speech against NEET has become the centre of Tamil Nadu politics. Giving a tough fight to the ruling DMK government, Vijay is also now in the race for 2026 with the DMK-like ideology.

Vijay also felicitated the class 10 & 12 toppers of Tamil Nadu in Chennai. This is the second phase following the first phase, in which Vijay felicitated over 800 students on June 28.