CHENNAI: The goal of getting NEET exemption for Tamil Nadu will be achieved using the support of people, no matter what those in various positions say, Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Sunday. He was virtually addressing the 4th state conference and the beginning of the 20th year of the Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE) in the city.
“Like how doctors need time to shift a patient after performing surgery in operation theatre to the general ward, there is a need for six months’ time to save the medical field and the country from people who have turned medical infrastructure sick. The signature campaign for getting NEET exemption by the DMK has turned into a people’s movement,” Stalin said.
Continuous attempts will be made to get NEET exemption, secure the state’s rights in medical education and bring education under the state list. “We will definitely win this struggle for rights,” Stalin said. “We have also initiated legal battle to get NEET exemption with confidence. The test is a way of destroying medical infrastructure in Tamil Nadu. From student Anitha to Jagadeeswaran, NEET has killed many people. There is another threat in the form of a test, NExT, entering education as we are fighting NEET. We will be opposing that test too,” Stalin added.
Speaking about the conference, he said it has been organised by doctors with the duty to oppose ‘mixopathy.’ Attempts are being made to mix ‘fake’ science in science-based medicine, in the form of mixopathy, common foundation course, spiritual medicine, vedic medicine and astrology medicine. We will stand with doctors in their intellectual and sensibility protest,” Stalin said.
The conference is being conducted against the union government’s attempts to destroy state medical infrastructure and the rights of the state. “This is not only your struggle, this is the struggle of Tamil Nadu. We will always stand with you in this,” Stalin said.
The chief minister also said he is proud to inaugurate the statue of former Prime Minister V P Singh, who stood for social justice, in Chennai for the first time in India on Monday. “In the last 10 years in the medical field, we have been facing thoughts and activities that are against social justice. These challenges are not only destroying medical infrastructure in Tamil Nadu but also feelings and dreams of students who aspire to become doctors and serve society,” Stalin said.
Tamil Nadu has the best medical infrastructure in the country. “In our Dravidian model of governance, there is the best medical infrastructure even in hamlets. This has been pointed out by many experts and they insist that other states also should follow this model,” Stalin said.