Chennai: Tamilnadu Governor R N Ravi, who had returned the NEET exemption Bill to the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly Speaker, said it was not in the interest of the students of the State, while terming Justice A K Rajan Committee’s report reflected its ‘jaundiced view’.
The Governor had on 3 February announced that the Bill, passed in the State Assembly in September last year, was returned to the Government on 1 February for its reconsideration, following which the ruling DMK today convened a special sitting of the House to adopt yet another resolution seeking permanent exemption from NEET and forward the same to Raj Bhavan to be sent to President for his assent.
The Governor in his letter to Assembly Speaker M Appavu, copies of which were placed before MLAs during today’s special session, said the report of the Rajan Committee, formed by the Government to make recommendations to exempt NEET, was based on ‘several unsubstantiated sweeping assumptions’.
The report had termed NEET directionless, anti-merit, and had said it paved the way for poorly-skilled candidates who were financially and socially strong, and thus made the medical profession dominated by poor quality professionals, discouraged complex thinking and higher order of skilling, compared to the State Board examinations, the Governor said
in the letter.
‘When the Supreme Court has found NEET to be in national interest and also for the protection of the weaker sections of society, will it be open for the State government to seek an exemption from NEET, particularly in view of the fact that the same has been held to be mandatory and applicable across the country?’ the Governor asked.
Ravi said, on the Committee in its report stating that NEET was against social justice as it allegedly favoured rich students who take advantage of coaching that the poor cannot afford, the report ‘totally ignores the fact that coaching skews the State Board results also’.
The NEET scheme has been held to be in complete conformity with the Constitutional scheme, Ravi said adding that Articles 46 and 47 address the issues of social justice at large, particularly concerning the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and weaker sections.
Ravi has alleged that the report of the Justice Rajan-led high level committee constituted by the State government to study the impact of NEET on medical admission in the state – which formed the basis for anti-NEET Bill — was based on several unsubstantiated sweeping assumptions.
In his letter to speaker Appavu, while returning the Bill for reconsideration, which was forwarded to the members of legislative assembly just ahead of the special sitting on Tuesday to reintroduce and pass the Bill, the Governor said the report merely reflected the ‘jaundiced view’ of the high level committee. ‘I am of the opinion that the Bill is not in the interest of the students of the State and the House needs to deliberate in detail on these relevant issues. Hence, I, in exercise of authority vested in me in Article 200 of the Constitution of India and return the Bill for reconsideration of the House,’ the Governor said.
Listing the reasons as to why he found the report utterly unconvincing, Ravi pointed to ‘some of the assumptions’ of the committee — NEET is directionless; NEET is anti-merit; it enables and empowers comparatively low performing students to get admission to MBBS; NEET has paved the way for entry of poor skilled candidates who are financially and socially strong and thus will make the medical profession dominated by poor quality professionals and NEET discourages complex thinking and higher order of skilling compared to the state board examinations.
While the report said that NEET was heavily biased in favour of physics, chemistry and biology instead of being open to test all possible knowledge as in the State board examinations, the Governor said it was beyond argument that the medical profession was a highly specialised discipline of science in which a reasonably sound knowledge of the basics of physics, chemistry and biology was a pre-requisite.