The DMK doesn't like NEET. They never have. They probably never will. And they take every opportunity to call for an ouster of the exam that took nearly a decade to bring to fruition.
On Saturday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin fired his latest salvo in his crusade against the national medical entrance exam, when he wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to cancel the exam this year - as holding it during a raging pandemic would be "unfair".
In fact, Stalin has asked Modi to call off all other entrance exams that regulate the admission of students to various undergraduate courses across the country for the same reason. He reasoned that since no official notification regarding the entrances exams had been made, this would be the right time to call it off and give students some "mental relief".
"It is the opinion of the Tamil Nadu government that conducting national-level entrance exams such as NEET when there is a pandemic at large and when several states including Tamil Nadu have cancelled their Class 12 exams, would not be fair or in the best interest of the students," said Stalin in a statement.
Several medical professionals who are advising the Tamil Nadu government have said that it is untenable to conduct any exams for the next three months as it is next to impossible to vaccinate teachers or students within that time frame - given how the government is currently struggling to fulfill the vaccine needs of those in the 18-45 age group, with shortage even pausing vaccination in several places.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had also ordered the setting up a special committee to study whether the conduct of NEET was against the principles of social justice - with retired Madras High Court Judge Justice AK Rajan presiding.
