Tamil Nadu's fight against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test has gained momentum once again with Governor R.N. Ravi returning the NEET exemption Bill to Assembly Speaker M. Appavu, saying "it's against the interests of the rural and poor students."
An official press release from the Raj Bhavan said the Governor took the decision after a detailed study of the Bill that seeks exemption from NEET for admission to under graduate medical courses.
"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 specially 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," the press release said.
The release also stated that "The Supreme Court in Christian Medical College, Vellore Association Vs. Union of India (2020) also has comprehensively examined the issue specially from the Social Justice perspective and upheld NEET as it prevents economic exploitation of poor students and is in furtherance of social justice."
The assembly had unanimously passed the anti-NEET bill in September 2021 based on the report from a high-level committee constituted by the state government. The report had examined the pre-NEET status of social justice in medical admission and taken into account the difficulties of the students coming from socially and economically poor background to pursue medical courses.
The ruling DMK criticised the Governor's decision to return the Bill with its MPs staging a protest against him in Lok Sabha. DMK Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu asked the Centre to take back the Governor.
Chief Minister MK Stalin has called for an all party meeting on February 5 to decide on the next course of action. Stalin also tweeted recalling DMK founder C.N. Annadurai's quote: "On his 53rd death anniversary, I recall his statement: A goat does not require a beard, nor a state a governor."
The ruling DMK had recently stepped up its war of words against the Governor. Incidentally, party's mouthpiece, Murasoli, had recently published a column criticising Ravi for his views on the state’s two-language policy and NEET. "This is Tamil Nadu and not Nagaland,” the newspaper had said.
