CM urged to check med bill status after Raj Bhavan’s ‘RTI reply

CHENNAI: A group of educationists in the state has asked Chief Minister MK Stalin to ascertain the status of the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Courses Bill 2021 following a ‘vague’ RTI reply from the Raj Bhavan.

PB Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of State Platform for Common School Syllabus, Tamil Nadu (SPCSS - TN) on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Stalin, requesting him to “find out the status of the Bill and take appropriate action for securing the assent of the President.”

The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Courses Act 2021, which seeks to provide UG medical admission in the state based on Class 12 marks, was passed in the Assembly and forwarded to the Governor for Presidential assent. The Bill stirred a controversy with the ruling DMK blaming Governor RN Ravi for delaying the forwarding of the Bill to the President even after it was re-adopted by the State Assembly on February 8, 2022. The Governor had subsequently informed the House that the Bill was forwarded for President’s approval.

Gajendra Babu made the plea to the CM on Tuesday following a “vague and evasive” reply from the Raj Bhavan last week. In his July 7, 2022 dated reply to Babu’s RTI petition, C Ramaprabha, under secretary (public information officer) to the Tamil Nadu Governor, informed that the “matter is under continuous process of the appropriate authority and hence information could not be provided at this stage.”

Babu had sought information regarding the status of the Bill under RTI Act in March last. Intrigued by the RTI reply, Babu apprised the CM that the reply (RTI) does not mention whether it is under consideration of the authority in the Raj Bhavan, Tamil Nadu or at the President’s office.

“The reply raises a serious question whether the Bill is still in Raj Bhavan. We earnestly request the Chief Minister to find out the status of the Bill and take appropriate action for securing the assent of the President of India,” Gajendra Babu said.