A war of words has erupted in Tamil Nadu over scrapping of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) with the ruling DMK and its allies expecting Governor RN Ravi to give assent to the Bill passed by the state Assembly.
The Tamil Nadu government is expecting a favourable response from the Governor as it believes that the new Bill is based on reliable data and also allows reservations in medical colleges for government school students.
The state health minister Ma Subramanian, while speaking to IANS, said, "We had constituted a commission headed by former judge Justice AK Rajan of the Madras High Court and the report by the commission is based on proper data as to why NEET is to be scrapped."
However, the AIADMK is not impressed and the former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has questioned the wisdom of the state government in cancelling NEET. In a statement released on December 27, the former Chief Minister called upon the state government to conduct NEET coaching classes so that government school students of the state are able to crack the examination.
AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, in a statement, said that the DMK knew fully well that NEET could not be scrapped and that it had used the subject as a political tactic to garner votes. He also said that the people of the state have seen through the game plan of the DMK and the present government and the hollowness of the promises made by the ruling party.
PMK founder leader Dr S Ramadoss has called upon the state government to convene a meeting of all political parties — to discuss the steps to be taken to get approval for the NEET exemption Bill — before the next academic year begins.