T.N. Chief Minister Stalin writes to President reiterating request seeking assent for NEET Exemption Bill
The HinduAgainst the backdrop of a Chennai boy ending his life over low scores in NEET and the subsequent death by suicide of his father, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday urged President Droupadi Murmu to grant assent to the State’s NEET Exemption Bill, which “was the collective will of the people of Tamil Nadu”. In his letter to the President, Mr. Stalin said the Bill adopted was the “outcome of Legislative consensus, stemming from the collective will of the people of Tamil Nadu” and “each day of delay in its implementation costs not only valuable medical seats to deserving students but also invaluable human lives to our society.” He pointed out that the Bill was pending though the State government had given clarifications to comments raised by various Union Ministries. The Chief Minister argued, “NEET-based selection process favours urban students and those who can afford costly coaching classes and hence is inherently against the poor and underprivileged.” Tamil Nadu wanted undergraduate medical course admission to be done only on the basis of Class XII marks, “the outcome of school education rather than a separate entrance exam which is an unwanted additional stress on students”. He accused Mr. Ravi of making “unkind statements” in public forums, “refusing to realise that students and their parents from poor, downtrodden and the middle-class are losing their dreams and opportunities.” ‘Insulting anit-NEET protests’ “A person holding the Governor’s post has made this irresponsible statement insulting the anti-NEET protests which have been going on for over several months now,” he said.