CHENNAI: The National Evaluation coum Entrance Test or NEET issue rocked the Assembly again on Tuesday with DMK leaders crossing swords with ministers in a fierce debate.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Leader of Opposition M K Stalin accused the Edappadi K Palaniswami government of failing to protect the interests of the State Board students, and counselled the ruling party to use the Vice-Presidential election as an opportunity to exert political pressure on the Centre to get Presidential assent for the two Bills unanimously adopted by the State Assembly to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET.
“The State government has committed an unpardonable betrayal of students of Tamil Nadu” by not utilising the presidential polls to exert pressure, Stalin said.
Health Minister C Vijaya Basker accused DMK of failing to thwart the move to introduce the national common test by the erstwhile UPA government of which it was part of. That failure has now ruined the future of students in Tamil Nadu, he said.
Noting that NEET was made mandatory by a Supreme Court verdict, Vijaya Basker said Tamil Nadu’s is the only State government that is firm on opposing it.
Stalin said the then DMK rule had indeed opposed the move strongly. Until the DMK government was in power, NEET was not held in Tamil Nadu, he reminded the minister.
Deputy leader of opposition Durai Murugan said the government should step down for its failure to safeguard students rights. Retorting, School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan wondered why the DMK government failed to step down when UPA government took initial steps to introduce NEET.
At one point, Vijaya Basker charged that some persons were desperately looking for issues to gain political mileage every day.
This drew vehement protest from Stalin who wanted them expunged. When Speaker P Dhanapal refused, Stalin had led his colleagues in a walkout.