The Tamil Nadu CM added, "I wish to reiterate that any entrance examination that is based on NCERT syllabus will not provide an equal opportunity to all students who have studied in varied State Board syllabi across the country." 

He also alleged that NEET was a "definitive prelude to the larger attempt of the Union government to centralise higher education admissions". 

"In most States, State Board syllabus students constitute more than 80% of the total student population and these students invariably hail from the marginalised sections. Hence an NCERT syllabus based entrance examination would place this deserving majority in a disadvantageous position in securing admission in Central Universities," the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief added. 

Terming the national level test "undesirable", Stalin said his government views making CUET compulsory as "yet another undesirable step in the current trend of the Union government trying to sideline both the roles of state governments as well as the significance of school education system in the process of admission to higher educational institutions. Therefore, I strongly urge you to withdraw this step immediately."

The University Grants Commission earlier announced that from the academic year 2022-2023, admissions to various courses in all central universities funded by it would be done only through CUET which will be conducted by the National Testing Agency.

(With inputs from agencies)