Chennai: Despite two Bills having been passed in the state assembly exempting UG and PG students of Tamil Nadu from writing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Neet), students are being encouraged to be prepared in case the Supreme Court overrules it.
“Considering that there are almost an equal number of seats in the private sector in the state, in the management quota in deemed universities and almost equal to four medical colleges available in the All India quota, a genuine aspirant should not foreclose his options by not writing Neet. He/ she should be prepared for a worst case scenario wherein the Supreme Court overrules us,” said a source who is well versed with the legal position in these cases.
“If somebody is a serious medical candidate, he should definitely try for the All India Quota, instead of merely trying for the state quota. Let alone thousands of seats all over India, Tamil Nadu has 430 seats. Every year, there used to be the All India Pre Medical/ Pre Dental Entrance Test (AIPMT) for the 15 per cent All India Quota. Last year, however, Neet came to being. That makes the student eligible not only for the 430 seats but also for the remaining 10,000-odd seats all over India,” he added.
Stating that Tamil Nadu has the largest number of government medical colleges with the distinction of having an almost equal number of deemed universities and self-financed colleges’ managing quota, he said that in the state quota - government seats 85 per cent plus the surrendered seats in All India Quota, surrendered seats by the self-financing colleges, deemed universities which have All India character, where you cannot restrict admission to only Tamilians - Neet is still mandatory.
“Neet is conducted for 65,000 seats of MBBS throughout the country. We have been asking only about the 2,500 to 3,000 seats that are coming under the state controlled seats exclusive to Tamil Nadu. Students of Tamil Nadu can still write Neet and compete in private medical colleges and deemed universities. Nothing prevents them from appearing or preparing for it,” said Dr GR Ravindranath of Doctors’Association for Social Equality.
“While everybody welcomes an improvement in education, I encourage that students be competitive enough to also get through Neet,” added the source. However, educationist Prince Gajendra Babu said that as of now the path is very clear. “Even though there is a Central Act, the state has passed a Bill which will go through the Governor to the President. President will surely give his assent. If the social justice factor of the issue is explained properly, courts will not interfere,” he said.
