Tamil Nadu suggests fresh law to override NEET, admission to medicine courses based on class 12 marks

A policy note said this initiative would ensure social justice and protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated in admission to medical education programmes.

Chennai: An official committee has suggested enactment of a law by the state to provide for admission to professional degrees like medicine on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying exam, the Tamil Nadu government said on Thursday (September 2) in the Assembly.

The President's assent should be received for the proposed Bill following passage in the House, which would ensure social justice and this also indicated the need for elimination of NEET, the government said.

A policy note (2021-22) tabled by Health Minister Ma Subramanian in the Assembly for his department said, this initiative would ensure social justice and protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated in admission to medical education programmes.

"The Committee of Secretaries has suggested to promulgate an Act, similar to TN Act No 3/2007, indicating the need for elimination of NEET in medical education and get the President's assent for the same," the note said adding it would ensure social justice.

The 2007 TN law provided for admission to engineering, medicine, dental, agriculture and other allied courses on the basis of marks in the qualifying exam and it received the President's assent.

Citing the submission of recommendations of a high-level committee headed by Justice AK Rajan in July, the government said the panel studied whether the NEET-based admission process had an adverse effect on aspirants of medical education in Tamil Nadu.

The detailed study includes students from poor sections of society in both urban and rural regions and those who had studied in government schools and in Tamil medium.

Following Justice Rajan Panel's recommendations to the government, an official committee of secretaries under the chairmanship of chief secretary V Iraianbu was constituted to suggest appropriate measures to implement the recommendations of the high-level panel.

The policy note said the Tamil Nadu government has been consistently opposing NEET and considering the plight of poor students, Chief Minister M K Stalin had made an announcement on June 5 to constitute a panel under the chairmanship of Justice Rajan.