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Vijay said, “…This cancellation has shattered the hopes of lakhs of medical aspirants across the country. This is not the first time NEET has been compromised. In 2024, the question paper was leaked and FIRs were registered across six States and transferred to the CBI…Within two years, another paper leak has occurred and the examination has been cancelled. This is conclusive proof of flaws and structural flaws in a national-level exam.”

The Chief Minister pointed to previous incidents of paper leaks to highlight “structural flaws” in the national examination system. He argued that the introduction of NEET has severely disadvantaged students from rural areas, government schools, Tamil medium backgrounds, and socio-economically marginalized families.

He added, “The Governments of Tamil Nadu, has been consistently and unanimously opposing NEET since its very inception. The introduction of NEET has severely disadvantaged the students from rural areas, Government schools, Tamil medium backgrounds, and socio-economically disadvantaged families.”

Reiterating the state’s long-standing demand, Vijay called for the scrapping of the centralized test and urged that states be permitted to fill all seats in MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses based on Class 12 marks.

He stated, “The Government of Tamil Nadu reiterates the State long pending demand to abolish NEET and permit the States to fill all seats under the State quota in MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses on the basis of Class 12 marks.”

This statement comes amid increasing controversy surrounding the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, which has raised concerns about the futures of students nationwide. The Center canceled the NEET-UG 2026 examination conducted on May 3 and announced plans to re-conduct the test on dates to be notified later. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been assigned to conduct a comprehensive probe into the allegations.

According to a National Testing Agency (NTA) statement, the decision to cancel the exam followed a review of inputs coordinated with central agencies, with findings from law enforcement raising concerns over the examination’s integrity.

Following the incident, Bihar Police arrested a gang allegedly involved in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak. Rajgir Deputy Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Singh confirmed the seizure of several mobile phones and laptops containing incriminating digital evidence. Recovered chats from the devices reveal a “money transaction trail” and identify several medical college students suspected of involvement in the syndicate.

Singh told ANI, “…we have seized mobile phones that have chats on them, and laptops. The chats reveal the money transaction trail. It also has information about students of other medical colleges…we have not found any question paper or guess paper on the phones…”

The NEET examination was held on May 3, with 22.79 lakh candidates appearing across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad at over 5,400 centres, according to the NTA.