Chennai: In a move that underscores the intensifying debate surrounding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced his decision to boycott the Independence Day tea party hosted by Governor R N Ravi even as he wrote to President Droupadi Murmu requesting her to accord assent to the state's anti-NEET Bill.
The boycott comes as a direct response to Governor Ravi's unwavering support for NEET, a stance that has stirred political tensions within the state. Two days ago, Governor Ravi made a statement indicating his unwillingness to grant assent to a crucial Tamil Nadu Assembly Bill aimed at exempting the state from the purview of NEET. "If he had the power to do so," Ravi emphasized, signaling his steadfast alignment with the national medical entrance examination.
Flagging the 16 suicide deaths of students over NEET in Tamil Nadu, Stalin urged President Murmu to accord her assent at the earliest to the Bill. Writing to the President, Stalin pointed to the "unfortunate consequences" due to the delay in the grant of approval to the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021 and urged her to provide assent immediately.
The chief minister underscored the back-to-back suicide deaths of a son and his father on August 12 and 13 respectively due to the stress of NEET. "With this, the toll of students who have died by suicide due to NEET has increased to 16 in our State. These tragedies could have been definitely avoided if our Bill for exemption from NEET had been given assent and the medical admissions done on the basis of +2 marks," Stalin said in his letter to the President.
Giving a background to the legislative process, Stalin referred to the Justice A K Rajan Committee which studied the NEET-based admission process and its adverse impact on poor and rural students. Later, based on the panel's report and deliberations, the chief minister said, the Bill was passed on September 13, 2021.
Since it was returned by Governor R N Ravi after five months of delay, it was reintroduced in the assembly on February 8, 2022 and it was passed again after reconsideration and sent again to the Governor for reserving it for the President's consideration.
The Governor forwarded the Bill to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and it has been pending President's assent. When the Home Ministry sought clarifications vis--vis the Bill, it was expeditiously made by the state government, Stalin said. However, the TN Bill has not been provided assent till now and students have been forced to undergo the NEET based admission process.
