CM Stalin urges President to approve Bill to dispense with NEET

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday met President Droupadi Murmu in Chennai during her visit to the city. He handed over a letter requesting her to accord early assent to the Bill to dispense with the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) just as she wound up her trip to the city. Governor R N Ravi and Minister for Higher Education K Ponmudy were also present when he handed over the letter to the President.

MK Stalin wrote on X (formerly Twitter) after handing over the letter, “On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu, I have again conveyed our unanimous plea to Honble President @rashtrapatibhvn, Tmt Droupadi Murmu, for justice to our students in the NEET issue. Under our continued quest for equity, let’s unite for the lakhs of our deserving students, who are anxiously awaiting the Presidential assent to the #NEET Exemption Bill. Their hopes and aspirations rest on this decision, which should brook no further delay. Doing away with NEET is the collective will of the people of Tamil Nadu. We will see to it that it is done!”

The Chief Minister wrote in the letter to the President, “Considering the fact that the NEET-based medical selection process is against students from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, Tamil Nadu has opted for the MBBS selection process through the +2 marks. This process had served our State’s interests well in the past but had to be discontinued due to the Union Government’s introduction of NEET and subsequent changes in Union legislations.”

“Since there had been no progress after our replies, in my letter dated August 14, 2023, I had highlighted the various adverse impacts due to this delay like the lost opportunities for the underprivileged students and many student suicides and had urged you to grant the assent without any further delay. The latest queries from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have also been replied. But unfortunately, the assent to our Bill has not been provided till now,” he added.

The Tamil Nadu CM said the Tamil Nadu Admission to Under Graduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, had been pending for assent by the President for over a year now. He also stated that the clarifications that had been asked for by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs based on the comments of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (on June 21, 2022), Department of Higher Education, MoE (August 26, 2022 and May 15, 2023) and Ministry of Ayush (January 13, 2023) had also been provided.

Stalin said there was an ‘inordinate delay’ in giving assent to this Bill and many deserving students could not seek medical college admissions as a result. “I solicit your kind and immediate intervention in this sensitive issue and urge you to accord the assent to the above Bill at the earliest,” he said in the letter.