Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin will hold an all-party meeting on Saturday in Chennai to discuss the state’s demand of exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam (NEET) and what needs to be done next on the matter.
The decision to convene an all-party meet was announced by Stalin on Thursday during the Tamil Nadu assembly session. He said the assembly passed a resolution and bill in February last year against NEET in Tamil Nadu and sent the same to governor RN Ravi. “The governor is yet to send it to President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent,” the chief minister added.
Speaking during the assembly session, Stalin further stated that coaching for the pre-medical entrance examination will also benefit “rich students.” “NEET exams have made school education costlier. We cannot remain mute spectators,” he added.
The DMK-led all-party meet had also sought an appointment from Union home minister Amit Shah, however, Stalin alleged that he refused the same. The Tamil Nadu chief minister termed the refusal “anti-democratic.”
Tamil Nadu political parties and the Centre have been at loggerheads regarding the NEET since it was mandated in the southern state from 2017 by the Supreme Court. The previous AIADMK regime in Tamil Nadu had passed a bill in 2017 seeking exemption from NEET but it was rejected by the President. The current DMK-led state government passed the Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021 in the state assembly in September, with the consent of all parties barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On December 28 last year, a delegation of MPs led by the DMK submitted a memorandum to the office of President Kovind on the delay in considering the bill passed in September. The President’s office had told them that the memorandum has been sent to the Union home ministry. According to latest updates, the Centre is yet to take a call on the bill.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
