CHENNAI: The State Assembly, in its special session on Tuesday, passed the Bill seeking exemption from NEET for Tamil Nadu for the second time. The Bill will be sent to Governor RN Ravi rightaway for forwarding it to the President. Earlier, the Bill was passed on September 13, 2021 and the Governor, after 142 days, returned it to the Assembly Speaker for reconsideration.
Moving the Bill in the State Assembly, Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed confidence that the Governor would forward the Bill to the President for getting his assent immediately.
While the ruling DMK and its allies took exception to the Governor’s decision to return the Bill, the AIADMK did not criticise the Governor but extended full support for passing it. However, the BJP MLAs staged a walkout from the House at the beginning of the discussion itself.
Speaker M Appavu read out the objections raised by the Governor while returning the Bill and Health Minister M Subramanian denied the objections point by point as raised by the Governor. He said the AK Rajan Committee on the impact of the NEET in medical admissions had gone into every aspect of the issue and submitted its reports and recommendations to the government only after considering the views of the people. The Speaker took exception to the release issued by the Raj Bhavan when the Governor returned the NEET Bill.
Speaking on the Bill and the Governor’s views on the Bill, the Chief Minister said the Governor had failed to discharge his Constitutional duty by returning the NEET Bill. Members of political parties spoke in support of the Bill. Manithaneya Makkal Katchi leader MH Jawahirullah said the Chief Minister should lead a movement for abolition of the post of Governor.
Taking strong exception to the remark of the Governor that the report of the AK Rajan Committee had merely reflected the ‘jaundiced view’ of the committee, Jawahirullah said that by this statement, the Governor had insulted the people of Tamil Nadu.