Tamil Nadu passes Bill to dispense with medical examination NEET

The Tamil Nadu Assembly, on Monday, passed Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill that seeks to stop seeking medical admissions using the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET). Now, all admissions to medical courses will be based on Class 12 marks to ensure social justice.

This Bill was adopted and passed in the wake of a suicide of a medical aspirant fearing the outcome of the test he was to take. The main opposition AIADMK, in the House, targetted the government over the incident.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister MK Stalin introduced the Bill and all parties, including the main opposition AIADMK and its ally PMK, supported the bill.

The Bill seeks to provide for admission to UG courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine and homeopathy on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination (Class XII).  

On June 5, the CM had constituted a high-level committee headed by retired justice AK Rajan to study the impact of NEET. And it was based on the finding that the government recommended the cancelling of NEET.

As per an NDTV report, the committee, in its report, said that NEET only favours the rich and the elite sections, crushing the dreams of the underprivileged social groups.

While he introduced the Bill, Stalin appealed to all to support it for social justice.

The Bill said the government has decided to enact a law to dispense with the requirement of NEET for admission to UG Medical degree courses. This was done to ensure “social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated and bring them to the mainstream of medical and dental education and in turn to ensure robust public health care across the state, particularly the rural areas.”

The report showed nearly a 10-time dip in state board students securing medical admissions – from 380 to around 40. However, there was a rise in CBSE students making it.