CHENNAI: The Centre on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that consultation on the Tamil Nadu government's Bill to dispense with NEET exam for medical admissions in the State is ongoing and further added that no fixed time can be prescribed for its approval.

While replying during question hour in Lok Sabha Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra said that the NEET Exemption Bill was received on May 2 and the consultation process with Union Ministers and Departments has been initiated.

“The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of AYUSH furnished their 'comments' on the bill which have been shared with the government of Tamil Nadu on June 21, 2022 and June 27, 2022, respectively for their comments and clarifications,” he said replying to a written question in Lok Sabha.

The NEET Exemption Bill was tabled by Chief Minister MK Stalin, and almost all parties, including the main opposition AIADMK and its ally PMK, supported the Bill. The BJP, however, staged a walkout from the Assembly and protested against this move.

Stalin introduced the Bill on the recommendation of the committee led by retired judge AK Rajan, which submitted the report in July. The Bill was reintroduced by the government after it was returned by Governor RN Ravi, who said that the Bill goes against the interests of rural students.

The aim of the Bill is to ensure “social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated,” the government said.

The Bill opposes NEET because it “undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS and higher medical studies, favouring mainly the affordable and affluent sections of the society and thwarting the dreams of underprivileged social groups”, it said.

Inputs from PTI

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