CM Stalin asks President to accord assent to NEET exemption Bill
With this, the toll of students who have committed suicide due to NEET has increased to 16 in our State.
CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday urged the President to immediately accord assent to the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill 2021 passed by the State Assembly seeking exemption for the state from NEET.
Drawing President Droupadi Murmu's attention to the suicide of a student and his father at Chrompet in Chennai due to stress of the student's 'failure' in NEET, which took the overall suicide toll in the state due to NEET to 16, Stalin said, "The NEET Exemption Bill passed by our Government is the outcome of Legislative consensus, stemming from the collective will of the people of Tamil Nadu. Each day of delay in its implementation costs not only valuable medical seats to deserving students but invaluable human lives to our society. I, therefore, solicit your immediate intervention in the matter and urge you to accord assent at the earliest to the above Bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly."
Citing the recommendation of Justice A K Rajan committee, which was the basis for the Tamil Nadu Admission to Under Graduate Medical Degree Courses Bill 2021 that awaits Rashtrapati Bhavan's assent, the CM said that in the process of providing assent to the Bill, the union home ministry had forwarded the comments of union Health, Higher Education and Ayush Ministries on August 26, 2022, May 15, 2023 and January 13, 2023, respectively, and sought clarification of the Tamil Nadu government.
"We had also provided all the details expeditiously. But our Bill has not been provided assent till now and the students have been forced to undergo the NEET based admission process. This has caused immense anxiety and stress in the minds of the students and parents, " the CM said.
As a result, there have been various sad incidents of students (or their parents) committing suicides, depressed by their failure to get an admission through NEET. Even recently, a student from Chrompet in Chennai and his father committed suicide due to the stress of the student's failure in NEET. With this, the toll of students who have committed suicide due to NEET has increased to 16 in our State. These tragedies could have been definitely avoided if our bill for exemption from NEET had been given assent and the medical admissions done on the basis of +2 marks.
Reiterating his government's consistent opposition to medical admission through NEET which favours urban students and those who can afford costly coaching classes, the CM said that the selection process should only be through the +2 marks, the outcome of school education rather than a separate entrance exam which is an unwanted additional stress on students.