Anti NEET Bill: TN Assembly re-adopts bill returned by the Governor

In a massive development, the Tamil Nadu Assembly has once again adopted the bill against the NEET exam today, on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. Notably, this is the first time in history that the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has re-adopted the bill returned by the Governor. The state government reintroduced the Anti-NEET Bill during a special sitting at Fort St. George. The bill seeking admission of students to medical colleges on the basis of their class 12 scores was returned by the Governor on February 3, after which the state government once again reintroduced the bill today.

Tamil Nadu Assembly re-adopts Anti NEET bill

This comes after the Governor returned the Anti-NEET Bill in February, citing it as "against the interests of the students, especially the rural and economically poor students of the state." The state held an all-party meeting chaired by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, barring the BJP, AIADMK, and its allies. In the bill, the state government has also proposed that students must get admission into undergraduate courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine, and homeopathy. The bill seeks to provide government school students with a 7.5% horizontal quota in medical admissions.

Anti-NEET Bill passed through voice vote in TN Assembly

Notably, in today's special sitting at the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the Anti-NEET Bill presented by the MK Stalin-led government was passed through a voice vote, after which the NEET Bill will be sent today itself to the Governor of Tamil Nadu, RN Ravi, who had previously criticized the committee involved in the Anti-NEET Bill and termed the report of the high-level committee as merely reflecting "the jaundiced view" of the committee.

The committee was headed by retired Justice AK Rajan, who had been appointed by the Chief Minister, MK Stalin. The Governor on February 3 stated that the bill presented by the state ruling party was not at all in the interest of the students of the state. Earlier, in February 2017, the AIADMK party had brought a similar bill, and it was adopted by the House, but President Ram Nath Kovind, 7 months later, decided to withhold assent to it.

Image: PTI