The anti-NEET movement has found a new voice, and this time, it's wearing a stethoscope.

What began as a student-led agitation over alleged NEET irregularities has now drawn doctors into the fight, with medical professionals across Tamil Nadu announcing statewide protests on July 28.

The Doctors' Association for Social Equality (DASE) and the Tamil Nadu Medical Students Association have called for demonstrations outside all government medical colleges in the state, extending solidarity to students protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar.

The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association has also announced support for the agitation, signalling that the movement has expanded well beyond campus boundaries.

The announcement comes as anti-NEET protests in Tamil Nadu continue to gather momentum, with students staging an indefinite sit-in at the CPI's Balan Illam in Chennai for several days.

The agitation has been backed by student organisations, including the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which have been demanding accountability over the alleged examination irregularities.

Addressing the media, DASE General Secretary Dr GR Ravindranath strongly criticised the alleged police action against students and youth during the protests at Jantar Mantar, calling it unacceptable.

He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging that the minister must be held accountable for the controversy surrounding the NEET examination.

The doctors' body also reiterated its long-standing demand that both NEET and the proposed National Exit Test (NExT) should not be mandatory for state-controlled medical seats.

Ravindranath said that if the Centre wishes to conduct a common entrance examination, it should be limited to management quota seats in private medical colleges and admissions to private deemed universities, while states should retain authority over admissions to government medical colleges.

The July 28 demonstrations are expected to take place simultaneously at government medical colleges across Tamil Nadu, marking one of the largest coordinated protests by medical professionals since the current anti-NEET movement began.

Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed NEET, arguing that the examination places students from rural and state-board backgrounds at a disadvantage.

The latest protests have once again brought that long-running debate to the forefront, now reinforced by the participation of doctors, medical students and government medical officers.