Neet scam and the merit question

The NEET impersonation scam unfolding in Tamil Nadu has opened a can of worms in a state that has opposed the test from the beginning. The opposition to NEET is based on the test favouring the CBSE syllabus, putting government school students who study a state board syllabus at a disadvantage.

Further, it is seen as benefitting those who have the means to access coaching and additional tutoring. Previously, medical admissions in the state were done on the basis of Plus Two marks that allowed even first-generation learners from poor and rural backgrounds a chance at pursuing medical education. Experts have argued that this has enriched TN’s public health services as such students are more willing to serve in remote rural areas. 

NEET was proposed as a method that would ensure selection of ‘meritorious’ students for medical studies. Merit as a concept is problematic as it often glosses over structural barriers to achieving such “merit”—caste, poverty, gender. It may be recalled that Anitha, a Dalit student whose Plus Two marks would have secured her a medical seat, ended her life as she was unable to make the NEET cut, galvanising opposition to the test in the state.

In this context, the unfolding scam which has indicated that at least three students bought their way into medical colleges by hiring others to take the test for them has made a mockery of the “merit” that NEET was supposed to ensure. The scam came to light after a government medical college dean filed a police complaint noting that the pictures of a student did not match those of the person who had taken the test. 

While the state has started reverification of all student documents, the National Testing Authority that conducts NEET has been silent. Parents have questioned how an agency that forced students to cut off their sleeves to take the test has allowed such impersonation to go on. The scale of the scam—and how many across India were part of it—is yet to be revealed. However, the question remains: What does merit mean in a country with so much inequity and so many ways to purchase it?