Current affairs

That one demand from MK Stalin to TN Governor RN Ravi: Will DMK succeed in its promise?

By alagu, 27 November, 2021
MK Stalin, NEET, DMK, Tamilnadu

The DMK government's battle of repealing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in Tamil Nadu has been resting on the Governor's desk, nearly for the past three months. The revocation of the single window examination for medical studies has been one of the poll promises of the DMK during the election run-off and after coming to power, MK Stalin's regime has been working to win exemption from the examination for the state and that was the big demand that Stalin kept to Governor RN Ravi during Saturday's meeting.

NEET and its botched implementation have got incessant outrage from across the state and the sudden single window system to pursue medical studies have also claimed the lives of several students. The nationwide test has put the students of backward and marginalized communities to face an adverse impact in their dream of becoming a doctor. Repealing the NEET was one of the first-in-line drives initiated by the MK Stalin administration after coming to power and he has now pressed on the head of state to make the next move. 

On Saturday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had met Governor RN Ravi at the Raj Bhavan and urged him to send the NEET Bill, passed by the state assembly, immediately to President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent. In an official press release, the government said, "Considering the impact on Tamil Nadu in medical admission, the Chief Minister urged the Governor to immediately send the Bill passed by the assembly for Presidential assent." 

MK Stalin was accompanied to Raj Bhavan by Water Resources Minister S Duraimurugan, Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, and senior officials. It must be noted that the Tamil Nadu Assembly, where the ruling DMK enjoys a majority, had on September 13 passed the Bill to exempt NEET in Tamil Nadu. The Bill supports the admissions to UG courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine, and homoeopathy on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, which is the examination conducted by the state board of higher secondary examination at Class 12. 

The Bill also says that the admissions can be meted out to the students who clear the examination conducted by the CBSE or the board of any other state. The Bill has also proposed providing 7.5% internal reservation for the students of government schools. The bill has a trajectory of clearing the Governor, the Parliament, and the President and it has already been sent to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi and it has been idle before him, finding its next move. 

MK Stalin, whose government is working to win exemption from the NEET within the next academic year, has urged the Governor to send the bill to the President for his consent. It must be noted that after coming to power by ousting the ADMK regime, the DMK government has formed a high-level committee to study whether the NEET-based admission had adversely affected the social, economic, and federal policy, and the students of rural and urban poor, who studied in Tamil medium and in the government schools. 

The committee, which was headed by a retired judge of the Madras High Court Justice AK Rajan, was also tasked to provide suggestions and steps to be taken to repeal the NEET. After its work, the committee had submitted its report to the government and concluded that if NEET continued for a few more years, the health care system of the state would be very badly affected and advised that the government should take measures to eliminate the NEET from Tamil Nadu. 

The press release further said that the assembly has passed the bill to revoke the NEET based on the recommendations from the committee and it was sent to the Governor to have Presidential consent. Taking its anti-NEET fight to the other states, the DMK leaders had submitted the translated copy of the report to the Chief Ministers of various states. Following the meeting, MK Stalin took to Twitter and wrote that he had urged the Governor to swiftly send the bill to the Presidential consent in view of the well being of the students. 

 

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