10 per cent medical seats to go to govt students in Pondy

Talking to reporters here, he said the decision to this effect was taken in the Cabinet meeting and the file pertaining to this was sent to Lt Governor Kiran Bedi for approval. If Bedi denies it, they are ready to fight against that, he said.

It was decided to introduce as a Government Order instead of making an Act, Narayanasamy said.

He said during the fiscal 2018-19, 94 students from the government schools and 346 from private schools had passed the National Eligibility and Entrance test (NEET).

Only 16 students studied in government schools could pursue medical education while, 243 students from private schools were selected.

In a bid to create a situation for the government school students to pursue medical education, the internal reservation is being introduced, he said.

The Chief Minister said the Supreme Court had dismissed the plea of Tamil Nadu government seeking 50 per cent reservation for OBC and MBC in medical education.

As far as Puducherry is concerned, OBC and MBC were getting 27 per cent reservation in government quota and the same reservation for them in the Central pool is also being pressed, he said.

The Madras High Court had also ruled that it is not possible to implement the reservation for OBC in this year, he said and added that this is an “injustice” done to the OBC communities.

The admission process after NEET has started now and it is the right time to implement the reservation, he pointed out.

The BJP-led NDA government and the Medical Council of India were functioning against this, which could not be accepted, he alleged. Narayanasamy said that he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention.

On COVID situation, the Chief Minister said that the government is ready to operate inter-state buses, but the Tamil Nadu government is yet to give permission for the same. A letter was written to Tamil Nadu government three days ago in this regard, he added.