Tamil Nadu Govt Passes Anti-NEET Bill in Assembly

The Tamil Nadu Anti-NEET Bill was passed by the state assembly in September 2021. The bill seeks to do away with the requirement of NEET for medical courses in the state. The Central Government had made the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test mandatory for all the students of the country. This bill was passed in opposition to this requirement.

The Governor of Tamil Nadu recently returned the bill to the Speaker of the Assembly, saying that this bill is against the interest of the students. According to the governor, this bill will affect the interests of the students of rural areas. He has also cited the Supreme Court’s decision in support of his argument. According to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Christian Medical College case, the cancellation of NEET in Tamil Nadu will result in the economic exploitation of poor students.

Tamil Nadu government wants to abolish NEET admissions. Instead, it wants to provide medical and dental admission on the basis of marks obtained in the class 12 examination. Admissions are provided through normalization. Earlier, medical admissions in the state used to be like this and the Tamil Nadu government wants to continue it.

Tamil Nadu government believes that NEET creates inequality in society. NEET favours the rich who can afford special coaching in addition to their regular class XII education. The affluent classes are hesitant to serve in rural areas. They wish to pursue higher education abroad. On the other hand, 90% of medical students from rural areas are happy to serve in their native villages.