Tamil Nadu NEET exemption: Governor returns bill, says it goes against rural students' interest

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Thursday returned the MK Stalin-led DMK government's bill seeking an exemption to the state from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), according to a Raj Bhavan release. 

Ravi's reason for the refusal was that the bill goes against the interests of rural students. 

The release read: "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 especially 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, " it added. 

This comes days after the state government had sought the governor to expeditiously forward the NEET exemption bill for presidential assent.

The governor had said during his remarks during the 73rd Republic Day address to the people of Tamil Nadu that prior to NEET, the share of government school students in admission to government medical colleges was hardly 1%. 

“Thanks to the affirmative action of 7.5% reservation for government school students that the number has improved significantly,” he had said.

Reacting to this, the minister for Tamil official language and culture & industries, Thangam Thennarasu, claimed that the 7.5% quota for those who cleared NEET could help them to overcome the "NEET discrimination to some extent," and that the reservation was only "temporary."

“I hope the governor would approve the Bill and stand by the state government in fulfilling the dreams of poor and rural students in pursuing medical education,” the minister said.

The state assembly had in September last year passed a bill to scrap NEET. 

The move came after a 19-year-old medical aspirant was found dead at his home in Salem hours before the NEET exam in 2021.

The bill seeks to provide for admission to UG courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine and homoeopathy on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, (class 12).

The bill seeks to ensure “social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated and bring them to the mainstream of medical and dental education and in turn to ensure a robust public health care across the state, particularly the rural areas,” according to the state government.