Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday announced the immediate creation of a revolving fund to financially help NEET-qualified State government school students, who have been allotted seats in private medical colleges and dental colleges under the 7.5% horizontal quota.
Earlier in the day, DMK president M. K. Stalin had announced that his party would bear the educational expenses of these students.
However, the Chief Minister, in a statement accused Mr. Stalin of enacting a ‘political drama’. Mr. Palaniswami said that the government school students do not have to wait for scholarship funds. “The government school students who have been allotted seats in medical colleges and dental colleges need not wait for the scholarship funds. I have set up a revolving fund in the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation to make sure that tuition fees and hostel fees can be paid to the college administration from the fund.”
Mr. Palaniswami underlined that while making the announcement about 7.5% reservation for government school students in admissions to medical courses in Tamil Nadu on November 18, he had said, “Post Matric Scholarship and other financial aid will be provided due to the financial difficulties faced by poor government school students, including those from Corporation schools, Municipality schools, Adi Dravidar schools, Tribal Welfare schools, Kallar Denotified Tribes School, Forest Department schools.”
Mr. Palaniswami said that it is well known that it was the State government that has helped poor students realise their dreams of becoming doctors by announcing, on November 18, that their tuition and hostel fees would be paid by the State government.