TN Anti-NEET Bill

February 4, 2022

The Tamil Nadu Anti – NEET bill was passed by the state assembly in September 2021. The bill seeks to discard the requirement of NEET for medical courses in the state. The central government had made the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test mandatory for all the students in the country. The bill was passed opposing this requirement.

What is the recent issue on the bill?

The Tamil Nadu Governor recently returned the bill to the assembly speaker saying the bill is against the interest of the students. According to the governor the bill will affect the interests of the students from rural areas. He has also cited the Supreme Court judgement in favour of his argument. According to the SC judgement in the Christian Medical College case, cancellation of NEET in Tamil Nadu will lead to economic exploitation of poor students.

What is the TN government stand on the issue?

The Tamil Nadu Government wants to do away with NEET admissions. Instead it wants to provide medical and dental admissions based on the marks obtained in Class 12 examination. The admissions are provided through normalisation. Earlier, medical admissions in the state happened in this way and TN government wants to continue this.

What are the TN government arguments?

The TN government is of the view that the NEET creates inequality in the society. NEET favours the rich who can afford special coaching apart from their regular Class XII education. The affluent classes are hesitant to serve in the rural areas. They desire to pursue higher education in foreign countries. On the other hand, 90% of the medical students from rural areas are happy to serve in their native villages.

Features of the bill

The bill aims to uphold equality, social justice, equal opportunity. It protects all the vulnerable student communities. The bill was introduced based on the recommendation made by Justice A K Rajan committee. A K Rajan was a retired High Court judge. The committee recommended that NEET undermines the diverse social representation in the medical and dental field.

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