The Madras high court has ordered notice on a petition moved by the state BJP unit challenging the former justice A K Rajan-headed committee, constituted by the new Tamil Nadu government, to study the impact of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on students from socially backward classes. The court has directed the state to respond in a week and the union government is also at liberty to submit its stance on the issue.
The interim orders were passed by the first bench, comprising chief justice Sanjib Banerjee and justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy on a writ petition filed by BJP’s state general secretary Karu Nagarajan, seeking to quash the order that constituted the 9-member committee. The court took note of the plea that there isn’t much room for the state to look for an alternative in the light of the Supreme Court’s August 2017 judgement (in the case of R Nakkiran versus the state of Tamil Nadu) that directed the state to implement NEET.
The justice Rajan committee had also sought suggestions and objections from the public before June 26 on the matter. The plea had stated that the committee is ‘arbitrary, illegal, unconstitutional and unreasonable.
Advocate general R Shunmugasundaram submitted that the move was backed by the party’s election manifesto as well as people’s demands. NEET is an emotional issue in the state where several students died by suicide either due to failure in the exam or due to fear of failure. Before NEET came into Tamil Nadu in 2017, entrance to medical colleges was based on class-12 marks. The state is of the view that medical aspirants from rural and poor backgrounds were discriminated against by competing with other students, who could afford coaching for NEET from top institutions. The previous AIADMK regime had introduced a horizontal reservation of 7.5% for government school students who cleared NEET for admissions into medical colleges.The case has been posted to next Monday.
{{/usCountry}}Advocate general R Shunmugasundaram submitted that the move was backed by the party’s election manifesto as well as people’s demands. NEET is an emotional issue in the state where several students died by suicide either due to failure in the exam or due to fear of failure. Before NEET came into Tamil Nadu in 2017, entrance to medical colleges was based on class-12 marks. The state is of the view that medical aspirants from rural and poor backgrounds were discriminated against by competing with other students, who could afford coaching for NEET from top institutions. The previous AIADMK regime had introduced a horizontal reservation of 7.5% for government school students who cleared NEET for admissions into medical colleges.The case has been posted to next Monday.
{{/usCountry}}Health minister M Subramanian accused the BJP of double speak. Last week chief minister M K Stalin stated that the DMK and AIADMK were on the same page on the issue and asked the BJP in the assembly if they will lend their voice when Tamil Nadu seeks an exemption from NEET. The national party’s legislative party leader Nainar Nagendran responded that they would support a decision taken through legal means. “Nainar Nagendran said that they will support any legal decision but, in a contradiction, they have filed a writ petition against it which shows their double speak to the whole world,” Subramanian told reporters. He added that the AIADMK, which leads the NDA alliance, should also make clear its stand.