'NEET is about money': Tamil Nadu CM calls exam ‘morale scandal’ after CBI reveals Rs 90 lakh bribery attempt

The Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has once again raised strong opposition against the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET UG) after the CBI’s report revealed a bribery scam where two people attempted to manipulate NEET 2025 scores for money.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said the accused Sandeep Shah and Salim Patel, residents of Solapur and Navi Mumbai, respectively, posed as middlemen claiming access to “non-existent NTA officials” and demanded Rs 90 lakh per candidate to alter the NEET marks. Shah is a Maharashtra-based doctor.

Referring to the CBI statement, MK Stalin said: “Yet another case that proves NEET isn’t about merit; it’s only about the market. That’s why we’re saying it loud and clear, #NEETisnotNEAT, and we have every reason to.”

According to the CBI report, the duo were contacting parents of NEET UG 2025 candidates and promising to manipulate marks for a hefty sum of money. They demanded Rs 90 lakh and later negotiated it down to Rs 87.5 lakh.

Calling the NEET exam a moral scandal, he said the exam is marred by irregularities in every stage from the question paper to result declaration. “Quality, quality, they said! #NEET is all about money, money, money,” he added.

Also read NEET was far from fair even before this year's grace marks, paper-leak controversies

Tamil Nadu's opposition to NEET

Taking a political dig, he said “AIADMK members have time to sit as showpieces in RSS-BJP conferences, have neither the time nor the dignity to speak against these to their masters!”

Tamil Nadu has been a vocal opponent of NEET since its inception. Majorly because the centralised exam for medical education often puts students from rural areas at disadvantage. The number of NEET-related suicides have also been one of the major concerns of the state.

The state had also scrapped the exam in 2006 and relied on Class 12 marks. Later, it had to adopt NEET after the Supreme Court mandated using NEET UG rank for MBBS, BDS admissions.

It has also passed several resolutions in the Tamil Nadu assembly and sent proposals to the President of India for exemption from NEET. However, the Centre has not approved Tamil Nadu’s request.