Anti NEET Bill: Tamil Nadu to Present Another Bill Seeking Exemption from Medical Entrance Exam

After the governor returned the Bill to scrap NEET for Tamil Nadu Students, Chief Minister M K Stalin is set to forward another bill seeking exemption from the centralised medical entrance exam. An all-party meeting conducted by Stalin unanimously resolved to send again the Bill to bypass the national test in Tamil Nadu to Governor Ravi to get approval from the President. Both the AIADMK and BJP did not take part in the meeting.

The main opposition AIADMK, which did not take part in the meeting, however declared its full support to all legal initiatives aimed at getting the test scrapped in Tamil Nadu. The BJP, which had demanded that Stalin release Governor’s ‘explanatory letter’ for returning the Bill to government, also did not take part in the parties’ meeting. Among the political parties in Tamil Nadu, only the Saffron party favoured the test.

In a tweet, Stalin said that Tamil Nadu would for sure emerge victorious in its war against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test by taking on its ‘foes’ and ‘betrayers.’ NEET is just one manifestation of several efforts aimed at ‘closing’ the doors of education opened up to the oppressed people following a century of struggle, he said.

Blaming the previous AIADMK rule for the continuing problem of NEET in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday said the Assembly, convened for February 8, would again send the anti-NEET Bill to Governor R N Ravi for reconsideration. The NEET was imposed on the States by the BJP government at the Centre in 2014 and was opposed by the then AIADMK leader and late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2016. Tamil Nadu got the exemption from the test that year. But after that, the party was acting like a slave and failed to pursue the matter resulting in students suffering, Stalin said while addressing a virtual campaign here for the urban civic polls.

The Chief Minister said that the Bill to exempt NEET, passed by the Assembly, conveyed the sentiments of about 8 crore Tamil Nadu people. All the parties reaffirmed their support to the government to get the test cancelled in Tamil Nadu. A protest demonstration was meanwhile held by the TVK urging the Centre to recall Governor Ravi. Led by TVK chief Velmurugan, the protesters opposed Raj Bhavan returning the anti-NEET Bill.

People of Tamil Nadu would never accept Ravi’s opinion that exemption from NEET is not needed. NEET has adversely affected students from poor and middle-class backgrounds and usurped the rights of state governments to admit students to state-run medical colleges. The test ‘wrecked’ the necessity of the school education system and favoured only students who could afford special coaching, according to the resolution adopted in the meeting.

— With inputs from PTI

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