NEET Exam and the Future of Public Health India – A Social Justice Approach

“Equality of opportunity is the essence of social justice” Our Nation entered into 74th year of Independence. It will be appropriate to analyse the long journey of democracy and the heart of democracy is the “Social Justice”. Social justice denotes the equal treatment of all citizens without any social distinction based on caste, colour, race, religion, sex and so on. After 73 years of democratic reign the hard fact is that the concept of Social Justice which is the dream of the makers of the constitution doesn’t come into the expected reality. The discrimination in education and its progress is the one such example. In this context this paper analyse the NEET exam which is an impediment to social justice in the education and also in the public health. National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is a common all-India Entrance Examination introduced for medical admission in India by the claim of uniformity and merit, which is biased and favours the particular sect of students and elite group who can spend exorbitant money to special coaching which is distant to students from deprived communities. Tamil Nadu through decades of struggle established the Social Justice especially in Education. This exam will reverse these aspects and thwarts the progress of socially and economically backward class of people. This paper attempts to analyses the immediate need to repeal this exam which is a social apartheid which tries to eliminate deprived class from medical education and will be a threat to public health.