Tamil Nadu to challenge NEET in Supreme Court

Chennai: The state of Tamil Nadu is planning to challenge NEET in the Supreme Court again.

A meeting of legislature party leaders chaired recently by Chief Minister MK Stalin to deliberate an action plan to secure exemption for Tamil Nadu from NEET decided unanimously to pursue all necessary legal steps, including challenging it in the Supreme Court afresh.

A resolution, moved by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin in this regard was adopted unanimously in the meeting.

The resolution said: "This all party meeting unanimously resolves that the Tamil Nadu government must continuously carry on the legal struggle to secure NEET exemption." The Tamil Nadu government had in 2023 moved the Apex Court opposing the NEET exam.

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The resolution said that such a fight must go on at a time when the President has declined (recently) to grant approval for the bill passed by the state assembly to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET for medical admissions.

The resolution further said that it has been unanimously decided to take up all legal steps by consulting legal experts. Such steps include filing a fresh case, if needed, in the Supreme Court challenging the denial of approval by the union government for the Tamil Nadu (anti-NEET) Bill.

It also includes taking forward the case filed by the Tamil Nadu government in July 2023 in Supreme Court opposing the NEET examination system. The representatives of parties that took part in the meeting welcomed the resolution of the deputy chief minister and it was unanimously passed.

NEET in Tamil Nadu:

NEET was introduced in India as a centralized test for admitting medical students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. However, since its inception, Tamil Nadu has been protesting against the same as after the test was introduced more than a dozen students of underprivileged social backgrounds committed suicide. These students belonging to remote areas were unable to access the necessary resources for clearing the entrance examination.

It was on December 21, 2010, the Medical Council of India (now replaced by the National Medical Commission) issued a notification making NEET mandatory for admission to medical courses. A similar notification was issued by the Dental Council of India (DCI) in 2012 and subsequently, a common entrance was brought for admission to homoeopathy and Indian medicine courses as well.

Prior to NEET, Tamil Nadu used to hold its own Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to medical colleges in the state for filling the state seats.

Several deliberations and protests staged over the years seeking NEET exemption in the state resulted in the formation of the Anti-NEET bill, which was passed in the Tamil Nadu assembly. The Centre had also sought clarifications from the state on the bill.

However, the bill has not come into effect as the Governor forwarded it seeking President's assent, which has not been granted till date. Last year, the matter reached Supreme Court also as the State of Tamil Nadu filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the MBBS entrance test. The State had argued that the introduction of NEET is violative of the federal structure, as it takes away the power of the States to admit students to Government Seats in medical colleges.

Also Read:Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passes resolution to scrap NEET