TN to bring legislation for NEET exemption says health minister Subramanian

Tamil Nadu will bring legislation seeking exemption from the NEET and send it to President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent.

On Thursday, the Tamil Nadu health department announced that the state is all set to bring legislation seeking exemption from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission into undergraduate medical colleges and will send it to the President Ram Nath Kovind for his approval.

Chief Minister MK Stalin led state government is working to end NEET and he also said in the state assembly that all parties in the state must work together on this issue concerning medical education in Tamil Nadu.

The health minister M Subramanian said that a committee of secretaries has suggested the need to stop NEET in Tamil Nadu. As per the committee report, it will safeguard all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated and will ensure social justice.

The state government had established a high-level committee under the Madras high court retired justice AK Rajan to assess the NEET impact on the socially and economically backward students. The committee submitted the report to the state government in July and most of the stakeholders agreed that the exam should be eliminated for undergraduate medical education.

NEET is an emotive issue in the state as more than a dozen students from poor backgrounds have committed suicide in Tamil Nadu due to NEET exams. In 2017, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government passed two bills seeking exemption from NEET but the bills got rejected by the Centre.

Read more:

• NEET 2021: Tamil Nadu Govt gets notice over its decision to form committee to study NEET based admission process
• NEET drives away poor, alleges retired Madras High Court judge