A memorandum seeking the President’s assent to the Bill to abolish the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) in Tamil Nadu has been forwarded by President Droupadi Murmu to the Union ministry of home affairs, according to documents related to the matter.
On January 19, Madurai MP S Venkatesan had written to the President attaching a copy of the memorandum submitted by the State Platform for Common School System on December 24, 2022 seeking her assent. The Rashtrapati Bhavan acknowledged the receipt of the letter on March 2, this year. “The same has been forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs for appropriate attention,” the response from Rashtrapati Bhavan stated.
Venkatesan shared these letters on Tuesday. “The NEET abolition Bill must be passed without any further delay,” said Venkatesan. In the letter Venkatesan had requested the President to call for the Bill which is presently with the Union home ministry and grant assent.
The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill was passed in September 2021. The Bill aims to abolish NEET and go back to the earlier system of using Class 12 Board exam marks for medical college admissions. The State Platform for Common School System has been protesting against the delay in this Bill being passed saying that it “puts students under immense stress and anxiety”. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday announced that an auditorium inside the Ariyalur government medical college will be named after the medical aspirant, hailing from that district, who had died by suicide after she failed to clear the exam in 2017, when NEET was introduced in the state.
The 17-year-old Dalit girl had topped her school examination in Ariyalur district with 98%. She had visited Delhi, impleading herself in the state government’s petition against the exam in the Supreme Court. The plea was, however, rejected. Her death resulted in widespread agitations against the state and central governments. She has since become the face of the anti- NEET agitation in the state.
{{/usCountry}}The 17-year-old Dalit girl had topped her school examination in Ariyalur district with 98%. She had visited Delhi, impleading herself in the state government’s petition against the exam in the Supreme Court. The plea was, however, rejected. Her death resulted in widespread agitations against the state and central governments. She has since become the face of the anti- NEET agitation in the state.
{{/usCountry}}The 850-seat auditorium has been constructed at a cost of ₹ 22-crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the hospital in January 2022.
Speaking during the inauguration of the auditorium on Tuesday, sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said that they will continue to legally oppose NEET until it is scrapped. “We have given her name because whenever anyone sees this auditorium they have to think about the abolition of NEET,” Udhayanidhi said.