Chennai: A day after the Tamilnadu government took the executive route and issued an order providing 7.5 per cent horizontal reservation for government school students in medical seats, Governor Banwarilal Purohit today gave his assent for the Bill in this regard.
A Raj Bhavan release said the Governor has given his assent to the Bill “Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Courses in Medicine, Dentistry, Indian Medicine and Homeopathy on preferential basis to the students of Government Schools BillĀ 2020”.
It said Purohit sought the legal opinion of Solicitor General of India through a letter dated 26 September and the opinion was received yesterday. “As soon as the opinion is received, The Governor has given assent to the Bill,” it said.
Yesterday, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, while hearing a plea, observed that the Governor should act as per his conscience and give his assent for the Bill.
Soon after the G.O was issued Thursday, leaders of various political parties raised doubts whether it would stand legal scrutiny and wanted the government to put forth effective arguments in the event of the matter going to the court.
Now that the Governor has given his assent, the decks were cleared for holding counselling for medical admissions and it was expected to commence soon.
Thanks to the Bill, about 300 students of government schools, who had cleared NEET, would be eligible to get medical seats this year.
It may be recalled that amid growing demand from various political parties, including the DMK, a group of Ministers had on 20 October called on the Governor and sought his assent for the Bill.
The delegation, comprising Ministers C Ve Shanmugham, D Jayakumar, K P Anbalagan, K A Sengottaiyan and Dr C Vijayabaskar met Purohit at the Raj Bhavan and sought his nod for Bill which was unanimously passed in the State Assembly on 15 September as the NEET results were announced and the counselling for medical admissions were set to begin.
After the meeting, Jayakumar expressed the hope that the Governor would soon give his nod for the Bill. In his reply to a letter written by Opposition DMK presidentĀ M K Stalin, the Governor said he would need about two to three weeks to take a decision on the matter.