Chennai: With top most officials of Tamilnadu government, including Chief Secretary K Shanmugam and Director General of Police J K Tripathy, leaving for Delhi on Wednesday, multiple theories did rounds in political, bureaucratic and media circles.
While some said they went to the capital to urge the Centre to scrap NEET in Tamilnadu in view of the Covid-19 pandemic situation, some others said their Delhi visit was aimed at getting the Union government’s nod to extend the lockdown in the State for one more month, as coronavirus cases are on rise.
However, a few others said the top officials took flight to New Delhi to attend IAS and IPS officers’ meeting scheduled to be held in the capital today.
Interestingly, Tamilnadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar on Wednesday wrote to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, seeking cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test stating that conducting the exam amid the pandemic would put the lives of the students attending it at great risk of infection.
Demanding that the Centre allow admissions to medical courses on the basis of students’ marks in Class XII board exams, he said ‘it would be very difficult for the students to actively prepare/take up NEET examination this year’ citing the current scenario.