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Amit Shah refusing to meet all-party panel over NEET: Stalin
In his strongly-worded speech which focused only on the issue of NEET for more than six minutes, Stalin framed this issue as one where the central government is snatching away the rights of the state and galvanised the members of the assembly to take the struggle against NEET as a fight towards social justice.
Chennai Chief minister MK Stalin on Thursday alleged that union home minister Amit Shah is refusing to meet an all-party delegation of MPs led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to discuss a Tamil Nadu bill that seeks exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam (NEET) in the state.
“Refusing to meet people’s representatives is anti-democratic,” Stalin said in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Thursday. To take a decision on the matter and to exert pressure on the union government, the chief minister called for an all-party meeting on January 8.
In his strongly-worded speech which focused only on the issue of NEET for more than six minutes, Stalin framed this issue as one where the central government is snatching away the rights of the state and galvanised the members of the assembly to take the struggle against NEET as a fight towards social justice.
“I am duty bound to inform this house that the progress achieved by Tamil Nadu so far has been through such protests. Likewise, we will consider the fight against NEET as the next protest of the Social Justice movement. We will not budge from our stand,” Stalin told the assembly.
Stalin made the announcement for the all-party meet under Rule 110 of the Tamil Nadu assembly under which either a chief minister or a minister can make a statement and the opposition will not have an opportunity to comment on it.
DMK’s parliamentary leader TR Baalu told reporters in Delhi on Wednesday that Shah has not given them an appointment and he also demanded the resignation of Governor RN Ravi for not sending the Bill to the President as yet. This after the Governor in his maiden address in the assembly on Wednesday articulated the state’s view that entrance exams like NEET create an unequal platform against rural students and it is unnecessary.
NEET has been dominating Tamil Nadu politics and the state under the previous AIADMK government and the current DMK government has opposed the exam since it was mandated in the state from 2017 by the Supreme Court. The DMK-led government passed the Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021 in the state assembly with the support of all parties except the BJP in September. The Bill seeks to restore Tamil Nadu’s process of medical admissions by considering only class 12 marks. The AIADMK in 2017 passed a similar bill seeking exemption from NEET but it was rejected by the president.
The Bill passed in September 2021 which was sent to the Governor Ravin on the same month is still under his consideration, according to an RTI response from the governor’s office in December. As a follow-up, a delegation of MPs from all political parties in Tamil Nadu led by the DMK submitted a memorandum to the office of the President of India on December 28 the delay in considering the legislation. The President’s office had conveyed to them that the memorandum has been sent to the Union Home Ministry.
“So the delegation sought an appointment with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. However, they have not been granted an appointment so far,” Stalin said.
The BJP said the DMK was enacting a political drama on the NEET issue first using the Governor and now using Shah. “He’s the home minister of the country, you can imagine his workload. It is justified if they have been trying for an appointment for ten days or so and he hasn’t met them,” said Tamil Nadu BJP’s general secretary Karu Nagarajan.
“But, how can they suddenly seek an appointment and immediately give a press byte saying that he’s not meeting them and today the chief minister is parroting that in the assembly. This is just a way for them to promote themselves. On the one hand, they get the Governor to say that the state will not back down from NEET and then they blame the Governor on the same issue. I only see this as DMK’s double standards since they came to power.”
On whether the BJP will participate in the all-party meeting, Nagarajan said the leadership was yet to take a call on it.
