Tamil Nadu's Assembly has passed another anti-NEET bill

On Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a bill opposing the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), which is used to admit students to undergraduate medical programs. The law was passed by voice vote during a special assembly session called for the purpose. The law was supported by all major parties except the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed the anti-NEET bill for the second time. It was passed in September of last year to eliminate the entrance exam and allow admission to MBBS and BDS programs solely on Class 12 grades.

For the second time, the bill will be delivered to Governor RN Ravi. On February 1, he returned it, requesting that the state legislature rethink it.

MK Stalin, the chief minister, was the driving force behind the bill's passage.

NEET "sends students to the cemetery and to jail," Stalin remarked in the rally, and "discriminates marginalized students."

Referring to Governor Ravi's statement on the bill's return, the chief minister stated that the explanations given by him were incorrect.

When AIADMK's C Vijayabaskar, the former regime's health minister, traced the origins of NEET to the Congress-led UPA administration in 2010, which was opposed by Congress members, the house erupted in applause twice.

The governor has cited a Supreme Court decision that supported NEET while returning the bill. He also stated that the bill is detrimental to pupils from low-income and rural backgrounds. Stalin had responded by saying that the court's decision was distinct and that the Tamil Nadu Assembly's power to pass the law was different.

Stalin visited with Ravi again, pleading with him to transmit the bill to the President for his approval, but he refused. The governor was then charged by Tamil Nadu's chief minister with acting against the federal spirit.

Referring to Governor Ravi's statement on the bill's return last week, the chief minister stated that the explanations he provided were incorrect. Ravi claimed that the Justice AK Rajan panel's NEET recommendations were based on "guess," but Stalin claimed that they were data-driven and based on the opinions of over one lakh people.

"NEET is not an education system, but rather a system to teach medical aspirants," he added, reiterating his government's opposition to the qualification test.

The committee was chaired by retired Justice AK Rajan, whom the Chief Minister, MK Stalin, had appointed. On February 3, the Governor indicated that the law proposed by the state ruling party was not in the best interests of the state's pupils. In February 2017, the AIADMK party introduced a similar law, which was passed by the House, but President Ram Nath Kovind refused to sign it seven months later.

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