Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and three of his Cabinet colleagues called on Governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Raj Bhavan on Monday to discuss the COVID-19 situation, the Bill providing horizontal reservation for NEET-qualified government school students in medical admission and the bifurcation of Anna University.
Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam, Higher Education Minister K.P. Anbalagan, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam, Director-General of Police J.K. Tripathy and a few other senior officials were present.
After the pandemic broke out, the Chief Minister has been calling on the Governor at regular intervals to present the status report and the details of the government efforts to combat the disease. According to informed sources, the Chief Minister presented a report on the COVID-19 situation. The Ministers were present to offer their inputs on the issues relating to their portfolios, the sources said.
The Assembly passed a Bill to provide 7.5% horizontal reservation to the NEET-qualified students of government schools. The Bill was sent to the Governor for assent.
Under another legislation passed by the Assembly at the last session, a new Anna University would be established, and all engineering colleges in the State would be affiliated to the Chennai-headquartered institution. The existing Anna University at Guindy would become a unitary institution under the name of Anna Technological and Research University (ATRU), focusing on research and higher learning. The Bill is with the Governor.