‘No friction between TN, Raj Bhavan over NEP, NEET’

CHENNAI: There are no flashpoints between the State government and Raj Bhavan over National Education Policy and NEET, Governor RN Ravi said during an informal interaction with journalists on Friday.

A few Education Bills were sent back to the government seeking clarification as they contradicted the UGC rules, he said, adding that these were policy-level issues between the Parliament and Assembly.

“I have a lot of respect for Chief Minister Stalin. [But] there are areas of concern and Raj Bhavan is informing the same to the government for it to look into them,” he told DT Next. The complaints regarding corruption and scams, and the one raised by State BJP president K Annamalai against a serving senior police officer, were also sent to the government for necessary action, he said.

To a query on the release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts, the Governor said the Supreme Court used Article 142 of the Constitution to release one of the convicts. “This is an extraordinary power vested with the apex court. But the Governor doesn’t have such powers. Now, it is for the apex court to decide on remissions in high-profile cases where central agencies were part of the investigation,” Ravi said.

Asked about his strong campaign for NEP, he said there was a gap between the industry requirement and degrees offered. The government schools and institutions were slipping, which must change for public benefit. “There is a need to relook education policies, which is a problem across the entire country,” he added.