Why MK Stalin-Led Tamil Nadu Govt Is Opposing NEET Entrance Exam?

The Tamil Nadu Assembly decided to adopt the bill against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on February 8 to admit aspirants to undergraduate programmes in medicine. The state conducted a special assembly session during which the bill was adopted after a voice vote. Except for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), all the political parties supported the NEET bill.

This also marked the second time the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted the anti-NEET bill. Earlier, the same bill was also passed in September 2021 to scrap the admission examination and allow admissions to BDS and MBBS on the basis of Class 12 marks, reported Hindustan Times.

Furthermore, the bill was then sent over to Governor RN Ravi for the second time, who returned it on February 1, asking the state legislature to reconsider it. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has piloted the resolution for the bill's passage.

NEET Examinations In Tamil Nadu

It is compulsory to have passed the NEET for medical college admissions all over India. The Tamil Nadu government states that the NEET exam is a centralised exam and is executed only on a single day. Thus, it puts massive pressure on aspirants, especially on those from the rural parts. Medical students have only one entrance test for the centre and state-level college admissions, whereas engineering candidates have both central and state-level exams.

Previously, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) claimed that the rural and poor students in the state are being massively affected by the NEET and scraping NEET from Tamil Nadu was one of the scraps of their poll promises. Right after the MK Stalin-led state government came into power, a committee headed by the retired justice AK Rajan was formed to analyse the implications of the NEET exam on students from the socially backward sections in medical admissions in the state, as per News18.

The team had executed a state-wide survey and sent back a report titled "Impact of NEET on Medical Admissions in Tamil Nadu". On the back of this, a bill has been then passed in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly calling for the revocation of the medical entrance test. The 165-page report was submitted to the state government, which was then released on September 20 by the Tamil Nadu government.

During his address in the assembly, the Tamil Nadu CM stated that NEET "discriminates marginalised students" and "sends students to the cemetery and to jail". Stalin, whole referring to the communique of Governor Ravi on the return of the NEET bill, also added that the reasons adduced by him were not correct.

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