NEET Bill won’t affect unity, TN to tell Govt

CHENNAI: The NEET Exemption Bill would not impact equality before law, national unity and contradict the National Education Policy and the functioning of several other ministries as argued, Tamil Nadu will inform the Centre in its reply to the clarifications that the latter had sought.

Stating that the government would send the reply mostly by Monday, Health Minister Ma Subramanian added that a positive response was expected from the new President, as she belongs to the underprivileged community and would decide in favour of students’ welfare.

Citing judgments by Supreme Court and High Courts, the Minister justified the State’s right to formulate the legislation for the welfare of students from economically backward families and rural population. ““The admission method recommended by the Bill is fair and promotes equality compared to any other method,” he said.

According to him, NEET is not a mandatory examination and students can be admitted based on Class 12 board examination by CBSE, State government or other recognised bodies. By choosing the latter, the financial and mental burden on the students from disadvantaged sections would be reduced, he argued.

Subramanian said that the government has prepared the draft, which would be sent to the Union Ministries that raised the clarifications. “We will send it to Centre probably on Monday,” he said.