Chennai: Key resolutions are expected to be passed at an all-party meeting to be held in Chennai tomorrow to discuss Tamilnadu’s next step to get the State exemption from NEET.
Discussions on legal remedies and leading an all-party delegation to meet the President or the Prime Minister will be held and decisions will be taken, sources said.
Chief Minister M Stalin has alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was refusing to meet MPs led by the DMK to discuss a Tamilnadu Assembly Bill that seeks exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam (NEET) in the State.
Shah’s refusal to meet people’s representatives goes against the ethos of democracy, the CM said. Making a suo motu statement under Rule 110 in the Assembly, Stalin said the DMK has maintained that NEET would affect students of disadvantaged sections, and admission to colleges should only be based on Class 12 marks.
Stalin said that an all-party meeting will be held in Chennai on 8 January to discuss the State government’s demand for exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. He added that the Centre has not taken any action on Tamilnadu’s Bill exempting the state from NEET.
In September, the Tamilnadu Assembly passed a Bill to scrap the entrance examination for admissions in the State. Governor RN Ravi has not yet forwarded the Bill to the President for his assent, according to the DMK.
‘Tamilnadu is a forerunner in the health sector with well-trained doctors, who studied in medical colleges with admissions they got based on school education,’ Stalin said. ‘But the Union government has brought in NEET which affects the students and paves way for those who can afford to undergo costly training to sit for the exam,’ he added.
Stressing that the Assembly had unanimously passed a bill scrapping NEET, the CM said the Tamilnadu Governor has not forwarded it to President Ram Nath Kovind.