Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin personally handed over a letter to President Draupadi Murmu requesting her immediate intervention in the sensitive issue of granting assent to the ‘Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, which seeks to get exemption for the State from NEET, the national level entrance examination for medical admissions.
As the President drove into the tarmac and walked the red carpet to board the aircraft on Friday, concluding her visit to Chennai, Stalin, who was waiting along with a few ministerial colleagues, Chennai Mayor and other officials on the edge of red carpet to see her off, presented her with a pink silk saree and then handed over the letter after having a word with her.
In the letter, the Chief Minister said the Bill had been pending Presidential assent for more than a year and explained the reasons behind the State Assembly passing it on September 31, 2021, and the processes adopted before doing it.
‘Considering the fact that the NEET based medical selection process is against the 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, the letter said.
The Bill that was passed on the basis of the recommendations of the Committee headed by Justice (Retired) A K Rajan and various discussions was sent on September 19, 2021 to the Governor, who returned it after five months, he said.
So the Bill was reintroduced in the Assembly on February 08, 2022, and was passed again after reconsideration and sent to the Governor for reserving it to Presidential assent.
The Bill was forwarded by the Governor to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and was pending assent though all clarifications sought by the Ministry of Home Affairs based on the comments of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Higher Education and Ministry of Ayush had been provided expeditiously. The latest queries from the Health Ministry had also been replied, he said.
‘Since there had been no progress after our replies, in my letter dated 14.8.2023, 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,’ he said.
The inordinate delay in granting assent to the Bill had deprived medical admissions for many deserving students who could not afford costly coaching facilities and had effectively stalled the intent of the broad legislative, political and social consensus in Tamil Nadu, he added.
The President had arrived in Chennai on Thursday night from Bengaluru and attended the convocation of the Indian Maritime University on Friday morning.
