Pondy Lt Guv urges political parties not be mislead students on NEET

Puducherry: Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday justified the NEET based selection and admission to medical courses and urged political parties not to mislead the students.

Talking to reporters after inspecting the facilities available for patients at the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital, she said, "As a doctor, I can understand the importance and inevitability of selecting students to medical education through NEET examination. It is a step in the right direction. More than others, I as a doctor can say that NEET is absolutely necessary." Replying to question, she said when IAS officers are selected through Civil service examination, why there should be objection in selecting students for medical education through an eligibility test.

The Lt Governor also requested those speaking against National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test to abstain from such campaign as students would be misled on the issue. Students from humble families were doing well in entrance test and were joining medical courses, she said. On the sustained demand for statehood to Puducherry, Soundararajan said that the resolution adopted in this regard on the floor of the House a few months ago had been sent to the Centre.

She also hit out at the previous Congress governments in the past in Puducherry for not taking positive steps to get statehood. "The same party (Congress) was in power both at the Centre and in Puducherry in the past. But nothing was done to get statehood to the Union Territory," she said. The Lt Governor said that she was discharging her duties with an intention to work for the people's welfare. "I would only appeal to those criticising my work to refrain from making such allegations without truth