Tamil Nadu CM writes to PM on NEET
Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET for admissions to medical colleges in the State and also to do away with the entrance examination at the national level by amending the National Medical Commission Act.
‘It has been our considered view that the selection process for professional courses should only be through the 12th standard marks rather than through a separate entrance exam, which is an unwanted additional stress on students,’ Stalin said in his letter to the Prime Minister on Friday.
He said the State Legislative Assembly had passed a Bill to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET and to provide medical admissions based on 12th standard marks and sent it for Presidential assent to the Government of India.
While the Presidential assent for the Bill was still pending, the irregularities that had happened during the recent NEET Examination validated the State’s opposition to it, he said, adding: ‘Many other States have also started voicing their views on the need to do away with this selection process.’
Considering the above facts, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has passed an unanimous resolution on Friday, urging the Union Government to provide its assent to the Bill for exempting Tamil Nadu from NEET and also to amend the National Medical Commission Act to give up this selection process at the national level, he said.
He also wrote letters to the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal, requesting them to consider passing a resolution in their State Assemblies urging the Union Government to abolish NEET.
‘The recent news reports on the irregularities during the NEET examination have exposed the weaknesses of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and also shattered the dreams of thousands of students who had appeared for the NEET exam,’ he said.
Tamil Nadu was opposing NEET, because it had effectively closed the doors of medical education to the rural and poor families that cannot afford the high cost coaching and had unanimously passed a resolution in the State Legislative Assembly seeking exemption from NEET Examinations and also provide medical admissions based on the 12th standard marks obtained by students in school education, he said.