NEET: Train fare, Rs 1,000 aid for Tamil Nadu students traveling to other states

Help desks for NEET students at railway stations, bus stands in Kerala

PTI5_7_2017_000081B Candidates during NEET 2017 | File

Every student from Tamil Nadu who travels to other states to appear for the NEET will be given train fare in addition to monetary assistance of Rs 1,000 per candidate, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said.

He said these students and one attendant traveling with him or her would be provided second class train fare and given an assistance of Rs 1,000 towards other expenditure.

Palaniswami said the direction was given following reports that those allotted NEET centres outside Tamil Nadu were facing difficulties.

Students could get the train fare and Rs 1,000 assistance from the district Chief Education Officer through their school either before or after their journey to write NEET, he said.

Palaniswami's announcement comes a day after PMK demanded that the state government bear the travel expenses of students who have been allotted NEET centres in other states.

A section of students, about 200 from Tamil Nadu, have been allotted centres in Kerala and Rajasthan to write NEET, according to the PMK.

PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss had said on Thursday that about 200 students, including those from Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts, were allotted NEET centres in Rajasthan and Kerala.

When a petition was filed in the Madras High Court against centres outside the state, the court had asked the Union government to allot the centres in Tamil Nadu itself.

However, it was "shocking" that it was stayed by the Supreme Court, the PMK leader, who is also the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha MP, had said.

"Tamil Nadu government should bear the air travel and lodging expenditure of the students if it could not get the Union government to allocate centres within the state for students," he had said

The PMK leader had alleged that allotting NEET centres for Tamil Nadu students in Rajasthan and Kerala was "social injustice."

DMK working president M.K. Stalin had also hit out at the Centre for not making arrangements to ensure that students from Tamil Nadu took the eligibility test in centres within the state. 

Meanwhile, the Kerala government directed all Collectors and district police chiefs to arrange help desks at all major railway and bus stations to provide necessary help to candidates appearing for the May 6 NEET medical entrance test.

This is to help thousands of students appearing for the test in centres in other districts and from outside the state, a government press release said.

Revenue and police authorities should ensure them hindrance-free travel and other facilities, the release said.

For those who need accommodation, authorities shall provide it with the support of local people, it said.