NEET's promise has failed; it's time to trust States, writes M.K. Stalin

📌 Summary:

• Context: Nationwide student protests over the NEET question-paper leak reflect not just one compromised exam but a deeper crisis of confidence in a system projected as the guardian of merit
• Core argument: Tamil Nadu was the first State to oppose NEET — not over conduct irregularities, but over the very philosophy of a single, high-stakes national exam deciding every medical aspirant's future; the author calls the problem structural, not procedural
• Federalism dimension: Education is on the Concurrent List; the author argues the Centre should trust States, which historically managed medical admissions attuned to local realities and social justice
• Equity concern: A single national test is argued to disadvantage rural, poor and State-board students while favouring those able to afford expensive coaching
• Solution proposed: Restore States' role in medical admissions (or allow opt-outs), rebuild trust and fairness in the selection process, and address the coaching-driven inequities the paper leak exposed

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Polity/Governance — Centre-State relations and cooperative federalism, Concurrent List (education), examination governance, equity in access to professional education.

🔑 Key Term: Concurrent List — subjects (including education) on which both Parliament and State legislatures can legislate; central law prevails in case of conflict (Article 254), making education a shared, contested domain.