The NEET exam has come under attack from many quarters, and for good reason. There is a plethora of reasons why NEET is problematic. It has been well-established that NEET is a systematic attack on the weaker section of our society.
However what may have been missed by many observers is the fact that NEET is a direct attack on the right of minorities. These rights are enshrined in the Indian constitution to protect the minorities in this great nation from abuse from the majority.
Article 30(1) in The Constitution Of India, specifically says that “All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.” This allows, for instance, a Christian institution to build a educational institution where Christian students are given preference. This fairly simple choice of operation is actually crucial to many minorities and their institutions.
However NEET deals a direct blow to Article 30(1) by essentially forcing minority-institutions to induct students based on a list generated by the government. This means that if a minority group works hard to setup a university with the objective to aid in the educational goals of that minority-group, their efforts will be in vain. Their university’s admission-process will be high-jacked by the government.
And for this very same reason, one of the most respected Medical institutions in India, the CMC (Christian Medical College) of Vellore has simply said that they will not proceed with NEET-based admissions, essentially closing off their university for this year’s batch. This is a sad development. But this is a necessary and courageous decision on the part of CMC.
As with many measures taken by the current government in the Centre, this too has been taken without consulting experts in the field and without taking the opinions of the states into consideration. The speed with which the current government works against the Federal structure of the nation is quite appalling.
This matter is being looked into at the Supreme Court. However, one hopes that the Central Government of India realizes that NEET is a horrible mistake on many levels and acts quickly to remove this senseless, meaningless, anti-people and anti-minority test.