The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has moved the Madras High Court challenging the committee formed by the Tamil Nadu government to examine the impact of NEET on aspirants from the socially disadvantaged sections, calling it "arbitrary". Following this, the court has now issued a notice to the government, asking it to file a counter in a week.
The committee, which was formed on June 3 and headed by former Madras HC judge A K Rajan, has received 86,342 responses from the public. The plea moved by Tamil Nadu BJP General Secretary K Nagarajan, on the other hand, says that the committee itself is illegal, given that most of the members who are a part of it oppose NEET. "The validity of NEET has been reaffirmed in the case of Christian Medical College Vellore Association v Union of India and Others (2020) 8 SCC 705. Insofar as Tamil Nadu is concerned, the Supreme Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to implement NEET. The Supreme Court has confirmed that it is not open to the state government suggesting an alternative," reads the petition. The matter will be heard by the court on July 4.
On the other hand, the committee, at a press meet that was held on Monday said that it would study the data related to medical admissions in the state and make necessary recommendations within a month to safeguard the interests of students from the backward sections and "the government will initiate the next course of action after considering the recommendations."
The conduct of NEET has had a contentious history in Tamil Nadu - the state has opposed the common entrance exam for MBBS courses vehemently from the get-go as they believe it leaves very little scope for students studying in government schools and in the state government syllabus to clear it and get MBBS seats. In fact, after opposing the conduct of NEET till 3 years ago in the Supreme Court, the then AIADMK government gave in and accepted the SC ruling and allowed NEET to be implemented — only to pass a bill sanctioning a special quota of 7.5% reservation for government school students in Tamil Nadu's MBBS admission pool.
