NEET issue in Tamil Nadu Assembly: Members walkout from Lok Sabha

Tamil Nadu members of the assembly staged a walkout from Lok Sabha to protest against Governor R N Ravi's decision of returning the NEET Exemption Bill to speaker M Appavu.

On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi returned the anti-NEET bill to the speaker M Appavu and on Thursday the members from Tamil Nadu staged a walkout from Lok Sabha for protesting against the Governor's decision of returning the bill and the members are also demanding his immediate recall.

Now when the Governor has returned the bill to the speaker, the members are protesting and DMK leader T R Baalu said in the Lok Sabha that members from Tamil Nadu were shocked at the governor's decision to return the bill back to the speaker instead of forwarding it to the President for his assent.

He added that the NEET Exemption Bill was unanimously passed by the state assembly and returning it is going against the will of the people of the state.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar responded to this and said that the rules do not permit discussion on the conduct of the Governor in the House and the Governor was well within his rights to return the bill. However, members were not satisfied with the response and walked out of the House. 

Congress member Manickam Tagore alleged that the Governor had kept the NEET Exemption Bill pending for five months.

Later, the members participated in the debate on the Motion of Thanks on President's Address.

The Background of the NEET Issue in Tamil Nadu

The Chief Minister MK Stalin led government is trying its best to eliminate the entrance examination from the state as the government opines that NEET is stopping poor students to join medical courses and favouring more of the affluent students who will most probably, later on, will practice in urban areas or out of the county. A bill was passed in the assembly for NEET exemption and was sent to the Governor for forwarding it to the President of India. After the Governor has returned the bill, the members are protesting against the Governor's decision and they also raised slogan's against him - "This governor should be withdrawn forthwith. This governor should be recalled," Baalu said.

Read more:

• Tamil Nadu: Poor student clears NEET twice, seek govt aid for admission to medical course
• Tamil Nadu to reach out to other states for exemption from NEET