DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Saturday said that with the Madras High Court quashing the government order (G.O.) reserving 85% of the under-graduate medical seats for State board students, CBSC students would now walk away with 50% of the seats.
“Moreover, students of the forward community will occupy seats that are three times their numerical strength under the Open Competition category. Is the government going to be part of the process that will deny social justice a place in the State?” Mr. Stalin asked in a statement.
Alleging that the State government will be fully responsible for dashing the hopes of the students, he said Health Minister C. Vijyay Bhaskar should quit his post owning moral responsibility for the government’s failure.
Mr. Stalin said from the beginning, the State government gave parents and students false hope that marks scored in NEET would not be taken into account for admission into medical courses.
“The dreams of rural students have been shattered. Even though the High Court had said it was concerned about the welfare of the rural students and those who studied under State board, its judgement is against the future of the oppressed section of the society,” he said.
“Did the government employ good lawyers to explain its stand on the issue? Did it tell the court that equality in admission would be impossible when there is no common syllabus? These are the questions that continue to bother the students and their parents,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the State government blew its own trumpet that it had succeeded in allotting 85% of the seats to State board students. “But the High Court order declaring it as illegal is painful,” he said.
“At least now the State government should exert adequate pressure on the Centre to get the President’s nod for the Bills adopted in the Assembly seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu from NEET. The people of Tamil Nadu will never forgive the betrayal of the State government,” he said.