Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday, October 27, 2023 handed over a representation to President Droupati Murmu in Chennai reiterating the Tamil Nadu government’s request to accord the assent to the Bill, which seeks to ‘dispense’ with the requirement for candidates to qualify in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses in the State.
Mr. Stalin handed over the representation to the President on the airport tarmac, a few moments before she boarded her aircraft winding up her visit to Chennai. Governor R.N. Ravi and Minister for Higher Education K. Ponmudy were also present.
In his representation, the CM pointed out that the Tamil Nadu Admission to Under Graduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021 has been pending for the presidential assent for more than a year.
“Considering the fact that the NEET-based medical selection process is against the students from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, Tamil Nadu has opted for the MBBS selection process through the +2 marks. This process had served our State’s interests well in the past but had to be discontinued due to the Union Government’s introduction of NEET and subsequent changes in Union legislations,” the representation said. A copy of the text was shared with the media.
Recalling that the Bill was adopted by the State Legislative Assembly in September 2021 and was sent to Governor, the plea pointed out that the Bill was returned by the Governor after five months of delay. It was reintroduced and adopted in the Assembly in February 2022 and was sent again to the Governor for reserving the same to Presidential assent.
The Bill has been forwarded by Governor of Tamil Nadu to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and was pending for assent, Mr. Stalin pointed out and further maintained that all the clarifications sought on the Bill by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs based on the comments of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 21, 2022, the Department of Higher Education, MoE on August 26, 2022 and May 15, 2023 and Ministry of AYUSH on January 13, 2023 have been provided expeditiously.
“Since there had been no progress after our replies, in my letter dated August 14, 2023, I had highlighted the various adverse impacts due to this delay like the lost opportunities for the underprivileged students and many student suicides and had urged you to grant the assent without any further delay. The latest queries from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have also been replied. But unfortunately, the assent to our Bill has not been provided till now,” Mr. Stalin said.
The CM further reiterated that the “inordinate delay” in granting assent to our Bill has deprived medical admissions for many deserving students who could not afford costly coaching facilities and “has effectively stalled the intent of the broad legislative, political and social consensus in Tamil Nadu.” He went on to insist on the President’s immediate intervention in this sensitive issue and urge her to accord the assent to the above Bill at the earliest.
Later in the day, Mr. Stalin said in a social media post that he handed over the plea to the President and further said: “Under our continued quest for equity, let’s unite for the lakhs of our deserving students, who are anxiously awaiting the Presidential assent to the #NEET Exemption Bill. Their hopes and aspirations rest on this decision, which should brook no further delay. Doing away with NEET is the collective will of the people of Tamil Nadu. We will see to it that it is done!”
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)
