22 November Friday

Modi Urged to Get President’s Nod for NEET Exemption Bills

V B GanesanUpdated: Monday May 21, 2018

IN a bid to bring relief to the medical  and dental aspirants of Tamil Nadu,  K Balakrishnan, CPI(M) state secretary,  has written to Prime Minister Narendra  Modi urging him to forward the two  bills regarding National Eligibility cum  Entrance Test (NEET) to the president.  It is to be noted that the Tamil Nadu  state assembly, in February 2017, has  unanimously passed the two bills, ie,  Tamil Nadu Admission to MBBS and  BDS Courses Act, 2017 and Tamil Nadu  Admission to Postgraduate Courses  in Medicine and Dentistry Act, 2017. 

The bills essentially seek admission  of students into medical and dental  colleges of Tamil Nadu based on their  marks in higher secondary instead of  NEET rankings.  Following the passage of these two  bills, T K Rangarajan, Rajya Sabha MP,  wrote to the president requesting his  TAMIL NADU  Modi Urged to Get President’s Nod for  NEET Exemption Bills  V B Ganesan  assent to these bills. To his dismay, the  president’s office through their letter  informed him that the said bills were  not yet received at their end. Instead  of acting swiftly to ensure the bills  be forwarded to the president for his  approval, the centre has forced NEET  upon the Tamil Nadu students. 

Adding to the students’ woes, the  CBSE has complicated the issue further  this year by fixing the examination  centres outside the state, from Kerala  to Rajasthan, for a large number of  students, by going against the ruling  of High Court. This year, a father of  an aspiring student lost his life due  to heart attack as he accompanied his  son to the exam centre in Kerala. The  aspirants from rural districts, socially  and economically backward sections of  the society underwent unprecedented  difficulties in pursuing their dreams of  medical admission. The CBSE defended  its action in an appeal to the Supreme  Court and got its way.  It is known that last year, Anita, a  topper of State Plus Two exams and  dalit student from a backward district  has committed suicide as she could not  secure a medical seat through NEET. 

Balakrishnan, in his letter to the  prime minister, urged for quick response,  citing the constitutional  provisions, judgments of High Court  and Supreme Court, report of the  Commission on Centre-State Relations,  Parliamentary Standing Committee on  H&FW.  He has reiterated that all the above  have clearly established that the state is  empowered to make amends in respect  of education within the state. He has  also pointed that the Justice Madan  Mohan Punchhi led Commission  on Centre-State Relations also  recommended that “ … in the  Commission’s view, the period of  six months prescribed in Art. 201 for  State Legislature to act when the bill is  returned by the President can be made  applicable for the President also to  decide on Assenting or withholding  Assent to a Bill….” ( Para 3.6.03) This  report, was welcomed by many chief  ministers, including that of Tamil  Nadu, when placed before the Inter-  State Council meeting on July 16, 2016. 

Balakrishnan quoted the laudatory  comments of Nobel Laureate Amartya  Sen and Jean Dreze on the wider reach  of health services to the people of  Tamil Nadu for which the backbone  being the state’s goal of rendering  social justice in education, more  particularly in medical education,  through several measures. 
  

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