Tamil Nadu Assembly to meet on Feb 8 to pass NEET Bill again

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Assembly will meet on February 8 once again as a special session to pass the Bill seeking exemption to the state from the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET). The Bill will be sent to Governor R.N. Ravi for his assent after he has returned the earlier one.

It may be noted that Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi had returned the earlier Bill passed on September 13, 2021, after holding it with him for 142 days.

A resolution to conduct a special session of the Assembly to pass the Bill was adopted at a meeting of ten parties. The parties attended included DMK, Congress, PMK, MDMK, VCK, CPM, and CPI while AIADMK, BJP, and Puratchi Bharatham boycotted the meeting.

The resolution, which was passed by the ten parties for a special session of the Assembly, said, "Getting an exemption from NEET alone will restore the rights of state governments over medical admissions and protect the interests of students hailing from poor and middle-class families. The views of the Governor on NEET Bill will be discussed threadbare during the special session of the Assembly and appropriate response will be put forth on the issue".

The resolution also said that the people of Tamil Nadu will never accept the suggestion of the Governor that the NEET Bill was against the interests of students, particularly those from rural areas and economically poor backgrounds. The resolution said that legal experts and fair-minded people have termed it wrong and the people of Tamil Nadu would never accept it.

The Chief Minister, while addressing the meeting of political parties, said that the Governor should have forwarded the Bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly immediately to the President. Stalin said that the Governor of Tamil Nadu failed to discharge his constitutional duty by not forwarding the Bill to the President.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said that in 2007, the then Governor of Tamil Nadu had given his assent to the Bill for abolishing the entrance examination in the state within 87 days of receiving it. He said that the present Governor had held on to the Bill for 142 days and returned it to the Speaker only after the MBBS admissions for the current academic year commenced.

Meanwhile, AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam in a statement said that the party was against the NEET in the past and that it has opposed the NEET in the present and will oppose it in the future also.