In an open letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, the All India Save Education Committee (AISEC) appealed to save the education system in the country.
The letter was written after a resolution was passed from the education convention against the NEET-UG mega scam, conducted by the Karnataka state chapter of AISEC on the 13th of July at Kondajji Basappa Auditorium in Bangalore.
Abolish NTA
In the wake of the alleged rigging of NEET-UG where a staggering 67 students topped the test with 100% being from the same examination centre among other dubious allegations, AISEC’s letter raised concerns over the credibility of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and requested the CJI to take steps to abolish the NTA. The cancellation of UGC-NET examinations on the day the exam was conducted, and various question paper leaks hold the NTA accountable.
Conduct impartial judiciary
AISEC requested the CJI to order an impartial judicial enquiry into the NEET-UG scam and ensure justice. The letter pointed towards the unconstitutionality of NEET which has a history of systematically eliminating the poor and the meritorious candidates by favouring CBSE students. The exam is near impossible to clear with high marks without rigorous coaching and spending lakhs on coaching centres, which has become an industry with more than Rs 58,000 crore of annual turnover.
Poor mostly affected
The commercialisation of medical education poses a serious threat to the country’s public health care as deserving but underprivileged candidates are kept out of the medical seats. Candidates who are capable of paying lacks and crores of rupees to coaching centres, private medical colleges or deemed universities, are able to buy seats even with lesser NEET scores.
The letter states that the ones who have invested lakhs or crores to become doctors will have weak ethics and that Indian healthcare is awaiting a catastrophe if the justice system remains mute.
AISEC urges the CJI to scrap NEET and reinstate state-level medical entrance exams which provide equal opportunities to students from government boards of various states. The letter also pushes for opening more well-equipped government medical colleges and increasing more public seats.