PremiumThe NEET bill seeks to provide for admission to UG courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine and homoeopathy on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, (class 12)
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday said that the state would convene a special assembly to pass another bill for exemption of NEET, days after Governor RN Ravi returned a similar bill, calling it “anti-poor".
The CM's announcement came after an all-party meeting on the issue, where he alleged that the Governor did not perform his duty by procrastinating on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test exemption bill.
“The Governor had sat on the Bill for 142 days before returning it to the government. I met the governor in person on the NEET exam issue," said Stalin while addressing the all-party meeting at the secretariat in Chennai.
"The bill was adopted in the assembly keeping in mind the demand of 8 crore people seeking exemption from NEET exam. It was passed unanimously in the state assembly. I ask you all - representatives of political parties - to give your valuable feedback in today's all-party meeting. The Governor did not bother to send it to the President for his consent," the CM added.
Stalin said that he had also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same issue via a video conferencing meeting when he inaugurated 11 new medical colleges.
The BJP boycotted the all-party meeting held earlier in the day. The saffron party's ally AIADMK also did not participate.
However, AIADMK has released a statement saying that it is against the NEET and will support the Tamil Nadu government on the exemption of the exam in the state.
Governor's reason for return
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Thursday returned the MK Stalin-led DMK government's NEET exemption bill, stating that it goes against the interests of rural students.
A Raj Bhavan release said: "The governor, after a detailed study of the L.A.Bill No.43 of 2021 for admission to Undergraduate Medical Courses seeking exemption from NEET, and the Report of the High-Level Committee constituted by the State Government in this regard, is of the opinion that the Bill is against interests of the students especially the rural and economically poor students of the State."
"Hence, the Hon'ble Governor has returned the Bill to the Hon'ble Speaker, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on February 01, 2022, giving detailed reasons, for its re-consideration by the House, " it added.
The state assembly had in September last year passed a bill to scrap NEET.
The move came after a 19-year-old medical aspirant was found dead at his home in Salem hours before the NEET exam in 2021.
The bill seeks to provide for admission to UG courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine and homoeopathy on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, (class 12) for the next 10 years.
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