NEET UG 2026 Cancelled: Unpacking The Numbers Behind NEET, Its Impact | Editorial with Sujit Nair

0:00 And he said cancel the leak paper leak cancel exams. Now what? You appear again. Appear again? As if it is like, you know, just going and buying a chocolate and coming. >> [music] >> It's an exam. It's a life-changing exam for that kid. Do you even Do you even think? What kind of governance are we when we can't handle a simple test? Simple test, but one of the most important test for a child's life, for his career. Namaskar. Welcome to another episode of editorial. I consider this a very important editorial, an important episode.

0:47 The reason why I consider this to be a very important episode is because today let's talk about education. We normally nowadays we do not talk about education. We talk about caste, we talk about communal issues. Education and all we don't talk about. So therefore I said I consider today's editorial very important. You see >> [clears throat] >> 22 plus lakh children 22 plus lakh children undergrads, which means most of them are below the age of 18 or 18. Actually 18, 16 and 2 18. These 18-year-old kids they studied possibly years, months put their entire effort

1:34 and appeared for this test called National Eligibility and Entrance Test, NEET. This is an undergraduate test, that is why it is called NEET UG, NEET for undergraduates. They went and they appeared for this test. For a lot of our especially kids coming from middle class, lower middle class, it's they had that it's that one chance for them to achieve that dream life of theirs. >> [clears throat] >> So, a lot of these kids put their heart, soul blood everything into that test. Not only them, their parents, their their their guardians, the entire family, cuz that's that ray of hope that an average Indian middle

2:22 class has today. I hope the government understands this. That is that ray of hope, that child appearing for NEET and possibly tomorrow becoming a doctor. Okay. Now, there's another body called the NTA, National Testing Agency. Now, this body, they realized that papers were leaked somewhere in Lucknow. The NEET papers were leaked. So, a lot of rich kids could buy the paper, they had the paper before they they they appeared for the exam. NTA said, "Cancel exam." When? After the kids had appeared for exam. They said "Cancel." You you get paper leaked. Are they right? Yeah, of course they are right. Paper leaked. Achha, 25

3:09 22 plus lakh kids, their effort, their hard work, their the kind of the kind of effort they took, the kind of time they spend, the time wasted, their time wasted, their careers. Nobody's bothered about it. Now, what? You appear again. Appear again. As if it is like, you know, just going and buying a chocolate and coming. Arey, it's an exam. It's a life-changing exam for that kid. Do you even Do you even think? Uh you [clears throat] know, I was just watching newspaper. Education coaching classes, they're making a a gala time out of it. Ruk Jana

3:56 Nahi for 37 years stands firmly with every whatever. Education institutions are or whatever this coaching classes are making hay while sun shines. Have you thought about that kid who studied for possibly years and then appeared for this exam and then he's told, "Nah, it's all wrong. Appear once again." My question is what impetus are we giving our education? What kind of governance are we we can't handle a simple test? Simple test but one of the most important test for a child's life, for his career. If you can't handle that, what are we talking about? What is education ministry meant to be?

4:45 Or my the point is are we taking this hard work more than Harvard very seriously? Is education going low on our priority as time passes? >> [sighs] >> I had done an editorial uh somewhere in on in June 2024. I want you to see this editorial. I have tried to explain NEET in absolute detail what exactly this test is and how effective or ineffective this test actually is for students. Just have a look at that. Okay, so a lot of people are talking about NEET and how NEET exams have been uh the papers have been leaked and so on and so forth. I'm going to talk to you about that, but briefly.

5:31 But what I'm going to talk to you about today is uh we will unmask NEET. Who exactly do you think NEET is helping? Do you think NEET is helping students, medical students? Is the entire format helping them, helping get us the best of doctors? Is that how NEET is being designed? Or NEET is helping somebody else? Let's talk about it. And before I get into my show, let me thank Mr. Maheshwar Peri, founder of Career 360, because a lot of data that I'm taking and I'm using in my video is thanks to him and his video. So, [music] uh let's get right into the show and talk about it.

6:16 Okay, before I get into my video, let me tell you one fact. One basic premises I want to lay in front of you. And that is 1% owns 40.5% of India's wealth. This is what Oxfam had said. 1% owns 40.5% of India's wealth, while 3% has trickled down to the bottom 50. I repeat, 1% owns 40.5% of India's wealth, and 3% has trickled down to bottom 50%. This is the premises. This is This is something that I want to tell you before I start my video. Please remember these figures, and I will tell you why I'm telling you these figures. Let's take these figures, keep it aside, let's get into our topic. You see, NEET, full form, is National

7:03 Eligibility Entrance Test. This is what NEET is. Why does NEET exist? NEET exists to ensure that we get the best of brains, the best of brains for our medical college, the best of doctors for our country. This is what NEET exists. Now, let me give you some statistics. You see, NEET, the total number of candidates who appear for NEET is around 23 lakhs 33,297 kids. Out of which 43% are males and 57% are females. So, there are more female candidates in NEET compared to male candidates. While if you talk about GE for instance, 14 lakh 15,000 kids appear for IIT-GE, 67% of them are

7:52 males and 33% of them are females. So, NEET have more female students. Point number one. Point number two is Now, let's come to medical education in India. Medical education in India is called MBBS. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. MBBS. Now, in India, there are 704 MBBS colleges. And total number of seats is 1 lakh 9,170 seats exist. And for this 1 lakh 9,170 seats, 23 lakh 33,227 people

8:37 apply for NEET, write the competitive exams, entrance exams. Okay. Now, these MBBS colleges are divided into four predominantly. First is central universities. There are seven central universities. In the central universities, they offer 1,180 seats. Premium most seven central universities. After which we have the government colleges. Government colleges, you have 382 government colleges offering you 55,225 of the 1 lakh 9,170 seats. So, government colleges offer you 55,225 seats. Then, you have what you call as the

9:24 private colleges. Private colleges, 264 in numbers and offer you 42,515 seats out of the 1 lakh 9,170 and then you have the deemed university. Deemed university offers you 10,250 seats. So, collectively deemed university and private colleges put together offers you something like 52,715 odd seats and central universities and government universities put together offers you whatever 57,000 approximately 57,000 seats. This is how this entire thing is bifurcated. Take it out. Till here very clear. Okay, let's

10:11 go further. Now, what happens is if you typically take a central university, let's take any aims institute. All India medical institute, let's take any of them. If you take a typical central university, central university like I told you there are seven colleges, there are 1,180 seats and the average fee per annum per year is around 22,979 rupees. 22,979 rupees per year. Affordable. Affordable for a common man in India. If you look at the hostel hostel and all everything put together, your total education cost for 5 years would be something like 3.64 lakhs. 3.64 lakhs. Affordable.

10:59 Affordable for a common Indian in India. 5 years 3.64 lakhs. This is as far as central universities concerned. The second university I spoke to you about government colleges. Government colleges total number of colleges like I told you before 382 total number of seats 55,225. Average fee per annum is 73,969 rupees. Slightly expensive. Expensive. But still affordable. Not not over the roof or or or or or not impossible affordable. So, 73,969 rupees. So, cost of education for 5 years roughly would come to with all your hostel hostel and all will come to around 620,000 rupees in 5 years.

11:45 So, this is as far as government colleges are concerned. Now, let us move to the private medical college. Up story change with that. You see private medical college, there are 264 private medical college like I told you 42,515 seats. Average fee per annum comes to 12 lakh 76,446 rupees. And the entire course put together comes to something like 78.82 lakh rupees. Up story change with that. Now, everything has changed. 78.82 lakh rupees. Absolutely not affordable by a common man. A common man will not be able to send his or her ward to to that particular college. It will be very

12:30 very difficult. To be able to be very difficult. College education loan and all take it with all all that is when you have some kind of wealth. If you don't have any kind of wealth, it is it becomes very very difficult to send their ward to these private colleges. Now, let us talk about deemed universities. Deemed universities like I told you 51 deemed university, 10,250 seats and average fees per annum is 20,52,544 rupees and the entire course with all your hostel hostel and all put together comes to 1.22 crores. 1.22 crores. That's the fee that a parent of a child who is

13:18 studying in a deemed university has to pay for the course. 1.22 crores. It is impossible for an average person. Forget about a rich Forget about a poor person. Forget about a poor person. It is impossible for even a middle class average person to think of putting his or her son or daughter into a deemed university. This is meant for the rich. So, is private medical college meant for the rich, not for the common man, not for the poor. Now, what is the point I'm trying to make? The point I'm trying to make is if you go to see seat versus fees. Seat versus fees. Central universities, like I told you, seven in in totality, 1,180

14:04 seats, just mere 3.64 lakhs for the education. Government colleges, 382 colleges 55,225 seats, and total cost of mere 6. 20 lakhs. Total number of seats, 56,405 seats, which comes to 51.66% of the total number of seats, which is 109,170 seats that India has. So, total number of seats versus 51% seats affordable. Affordable via central universities and government universities, government colleges. Okay? This is one set. The second set is deemed universities. Uh deemed universities, 10,250 seats,

14:52 cost of education 1.22 crores for the course. The second is private colleges, 264 private colleges, 42,515 seats 78.82 lakhs for the course. So, total amount, 52,765 seats out of the 109,170 seats for private and deemed university, which is 48.33% of the total number of seats. This is for the super rich. This is affordable. This is not affordable by the poor not the middle class of this country. This is how the medical education is slated in one shot. This is what you see in your screen. This is how it looks.

15:38 Now, let us start the million-dollar question. The million-dollar question is you see total number of seats kitna hai? The total number of seats is 1 lakh 9,048. 1 lakh 9,048. The NEET cut-off score the total score is 720 and the cut-off score of NEET in 2024 is 164 out of 720 which is not even 22.78% of the of the total score. You see in schools fifth standard, fourth standard, third standard your minimum passing mark is 35%. That is what a minimum passing mark is. If you get less than 35% you are failed. But in NEET no in NEET no in

16:25 NEET you are passed even if you get 22.78% which is 164 out of 720 you are passed. And you know how many students pass out? The total number of students who qualifies for medical education in NEET is 13 lakh 16,268. And I'm just talking about 24 figures. 23 figures are different, 22 figures are different, 21 figures are different. I'll come to that. Let's just talk about 24 figures. Okay, so 13 lakh 16,268 students qualified for medical education in India where the number of seats is mere 1 lakh 9,048. A 1 lakh seat bharne ko why do you need 13 lakh qualified students?

17:10 What is this politics? What is this game? What is this game? Let me also take you to some other years. In 2023, 137, which is lower, 137 was the cutoff score. 19% was the passing mark, 19.3% you get your pass, you're qualified. Okay, and they had qualified 11 lakh 45,976 students for 1 lakh 6,000 333 seats. Again, the question is, hey, for 1 lakh seats, why are you qualifying 13 lakhs and 11 lakhs people? What is the point of that? And that is where you get to your answer. That is where the actual face of NEET is unmasked. Do you think NEET is actually

17:58 made, created, constituted to help to identify best students to qualify for medical exams in India or medical education in India? If you're thinking that, you may not be entirely correct. Because, you see, in a college like ACS Medical College and Hospital, thanks to Career 360, this data is thanks to them, the source is thanks to them. In a college like ACS Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, the MBBS course, the closing rank, the closing rank was 10 lakh 12,392, which means the person who got 137 marks out of 720 got admission.

18:43 A person who got 137 out of 720 got the admission, and the person's rank was 10 lakh 12,392. This was ACS Medical College, Tamil Nadu. Let me tell you another medical college, Vinayaka Mission Medical College, Pondicherry. A person who got 113 marks out of 720, with a rank of 11 lakh 76,267, got entry into medical education. You see, 1 lakh seats, 1 lakh seats, coming back to our figures. 1 lakh seats. 13 lakh people passing and the person who got 11th lakh rank getting a seat. Which means the people in the middle who didn't have the money, who couldn't afford this kind of this kind of fee

19:29 that I spoke to you about, 1 crore 22 lakhs, 78.282 lakhs, etc. They were not allowed. They were not given education. They couldn't get into that college. But people who had money and pass NEET at some ridiculous low 10th lakh lakh, 11th lakh rank got in. A person who got 1 lakh 10,000 rank didn't get it. A person who got good marks, maybe 62,000 rank, but therefore couldn't get into the government college or a central university couldn't afford a private college, couldn't afford deemed university, had to sit at home, had to take up some other course, had to take up some basic course, maybe a job. Because his parents couldn't afford it.

20:15 They didn't have money. 60,000 62,000. But a person who got 11 lakh 11 lakh 76,267th rank got an admission in a medical college. Now, do you understand the real reason of NEET? The real reason of NEET is not necessarily to identify best minds, best students. The real reason of NEET is to ensure that medical college can sell their seats at a far, far better price. Far, far better price. Private colleges, deemed universities can sell it at huge amounts, huge amounts. And students who get 11th lakh rank, 12 lakh rank can get through because the cut-off is 13 lakh 16,200

21:01 68. That is the cut-off rank. So, that's the point I'm trying to make here. This is the reason why a NEET exists. Now, let me tell you what why did I speak about the 1% owning 40.5% of total India's wealth. Now, let me come to that. And the 3% percolated down to the balance 50 50% of people. I will tell you what I mean by that. >> [snorts] >> You see, this 56,405 seats is possibly what these middle class, lower middle class, and the poor class can even attempt to get. That is what they can get.

21:47 This 52,765 seats, which is there, which is almost 48% of the private and deemed university, are literally reserved for the rich, aren't they? They're reserved for the rich. Because a poor man cannot afford 1.22 crores. >> [laughter] >> A middle class cannot afford 1.22 crores. Even an upper middle class cannot afford 1.22 crores for one child's education. So, it is actually reserved for the rich class, isn't it? Same is the case with private college. 78.82 lakhs. Can't afford that. Who can afford? So, that's reserved for the rich class. Now, you have the 56,405, which is 51.66%, which is possibly affordable by a middle

22:32 class, upper middle class, an average Indian. Possibly affordable. Now, let us come to the story. The story is, you see, 67 students scored perfect marks getting 720. The story is students scored 718, 719 marks, which is almost impossible in the NEET marking system. The story is NEET results were declared on June 4th, the same day when election results were declared. The story is numerous. 2024 toppers are from the same examination center and the story is there are allegations of NEET question paper being leaked. Now [clears throat] see the relevance. You see, you are talking about first of all you are talking about 51.66%. 51.66%

23:18 seat because baki to gaya rich and famous ko. You are talking about 51.66% seats. Now in this 51.66% seat they are manipulating. They are manipulating by leaking papers. They are manipulating by ensuring that people get fantastic marks by whatever means. They are manipulating. For whom are they manipulating? Again for the rich. Because the poor can't buy leaked papers, no. The poor can't pay these administrators to to to get good marks, no. Poor can't pay. It is again for the rich. So you are not only taking 48% for the rich, you are trying to now encroach into that 51% which is meant for the poor, the middle class and the upper middle class. That part. There

24:04 also you are trying to encroach. So what are you technically trying to do? You are technically trying to push out the average Indian, the poor, the middle class. You are trying to push out the average Indian and trying to establish that this entire medical education system is only for the rich. Now again connect to what I said. 1% of the country has 40% 40.5% of your wealth. As things progress and if establishments like these with education system like this, they will ensure that a poor even doesn't get the right for education. They will even take premier education from you. They will even take an

24:50 opportunity for a poor to get into a good engineering college. So they will not only take away the money, they will also take away the opportunity of a poor. And that is why I said that I'm going to unmask NEET and the way this system works. And that's the big story I wanted to tell you. Please be mindful of this. Please share this content. Let people know about this content. Because end of the day, if we can help to get that deserving yet poor middle class child a seat in medical college, it is not [clears throat] just good for him. It is good for us. Because we get a diligent, intelligent doctor serving us. Otherwise, we will end up under the

25:36 knife of some rich, super rich person who passed with 11th la- 11th lakh uh rank and still got into a medical college. You decide. You please write down your comments, whatever you you think uh about this and let me know. Till I see you next time. That's tomorrow at 10:00. Namaskar.