Actor Vijay Speaks Out Against NEET for Tamil Nadu Students
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 3: Tamil actor Thalapathy Vijay has taken a strong stance against the NEET exam, advocating for underprivileged students and unified education. He expressed that people have lost faith in the NEET examination and called for its exemption.
Vijay, who is the founder of Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, said, “People have lost faith in NEET examination. The nation doesn’t need NEET. Exemption from NEET is the only solution. I wholeheartedly welcome the resolution against NEET which was passed in the State Assembly. I request the Union Government to respect the emotions of the people of Tamil Nadu. Education should be brought under the State List from the Concurrent list.”
The NEET-UG exam has faced controversies, including issues like grace marks, paper leaks, and other irregularities. The UGC-NET exam was cancelled after being conducted, and the CSIR-NET and NEET-PG exams have been postponed. This has led to ongoing debates about transferring education back to the state list.
Vijay highlighted that NEET negatively impacts students from villages, backward classes, and oppressed communities. He argued that NEET is against state autonomy and that “one nation, one syllabus, and one exam” cannot be accepted.
“NEET is against state autonomy. Before 1975, education was on the state list. The Union Government brought education onto the concurrent list. Then only issues started. Secondly, one nation, one syllabus, and one exam are against the basic concept of education. This is not only asking for State autonomy; education should be approached from various perspectives and aspects. Diversity is a strength but not a weakness,” Vijay said.
The 42nd constitutional amendment (1976) shifted ‘education’ from the State list to the concurrent list. Vijay also pointed out the unfairness of conducting exams for students from the NCERT syllabus who study under the State syllabus.
“There were a lot of irregularities in NEET exams recently. People lost faith in NEET exams. From this, we came to understand that this nation doesn’t need NEET. Exemption from NEET is the only immediate solution. I wholeheartedly welcome the Tamil Nadu resolution against NEET, which was passed by the assembly. I request the Union Government without delaying respect for the emotions of Tamil Nadu people,” Vijay said.
Vijay suggested that education should be on the state list, not the concurrent list. “As an interim solution, the Indian Constitution should be amended to create a ‘Special Concurrent list’ and education and health should be added there. In the present concurrent list, the Union Government has more power over all departments than the respective state government. This is my suggestion,” Vijay said.
Vijay’s speech against NEET has become a central topic in Tamil Nadu politics. Competing with the ruling DMK government, Vijay is also now in the race for 2026 with a DMK-like ideology.
Vijay also felicitated the class 10 and 12 toppers of Tamil Nadu in Chennai. This is the second phase following the first phase, in which Vijay felicitated over 800 students on June 28.
