CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday called on Governor RN Ravi and requested him to forward the Bill seeking to exempt Tamil Nadu from National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) to President Ram Nath Kovind immediately. The Bill which was passed by the State Assembly on September 13 has been pending with the Governor for the past two-and -a-half months.
Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan, Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, and senior officials were present during the Chief Minister’s meeting with the Governor.
The Chief Minister urged the Governor to forward the ‘Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Act 2021,’ seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu from NEET immediately to the President, considering the impact NEET has had in admission of students to the medical courses in Tamil Nadu.
The Bill, introduced by Chief Minister MK Stalin seeks to dispense with NEET and allow medical admissions based on marks scored in the Plus Two examination, and through normalisation methods. Five years ago, during the previous AIADMK regime, two Bills were passed seeking to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET. But the President did not give his assent to the Bills.
While introducing the Bill in the State Assembly, the Chief Minister had said the Bill was more legally sound than the two Bills passed during the AIADMK regime. The Bill also said the move would ensure social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from discrimination and bring them to the mainstream of medical and dental education, and in turn ensure robust public health care across the State particularly the rural areas.
Appavu’s speech
A week ago, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M Appavu, at the 82nd All India Presiding Officers Conference at Shimla, called upon the Presiding Officers of legislatures of all States to work together, to set a binding time frame within which Bills have to be assented to, returned or reserved for the consideration of the President, by the Governors