The NEET panel on the NEET Impact Study concluded that if NEET continues for a few more years, the Tamil Nadu health system will be seriously affected.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Courses Bill on Monday, September 13th against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for state students. The AIADMK party was the first to support the bill, and other political parties such as Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) among others voted in favor of the bill in the assembly. However, the BJP was the only party that opposed the bill and staged a walkout.
TN Chief Minister MP Stalin tabled the NEET bill in the assembly on Monday morning, which also called for a permanent exemption from the Union government’s entrance medical examination for students who are studying in Tamil Nadu.
On June 5 of this year, the CM ordered the formation of a panel headed by retired judge AK Rajan. The panel of educators and officials from the state’s education department over the following months explored the impact of NEETs among Tamil Nadu public school students and its implications for students from economically more backgrounds weak.
The CM tabled the bill on September 13 according to the report submitted by the panel.
According to the Statement of Purposes and Reasons for the Bill, he said the panel after studying the impact of NEET concluded that if NEET continues for a few years, Tamil Nadu’s health system will be very badly affected. “There may not be enough doctors to employ in primary health centers (PHCs) and public hospitals. For this reason, the rural and urban poor may not be able to attend medical school, ”the statement said.
The Statement of Purposes and Reasons for the Bill further states that the government of Tamil Nadu aims to allow admission to undergraduate medical courses not through NEET, but on the basis of grades obtained during the qualification examination, via standardization methods. This will be done “in order to ensure social justice, to defend equality and equal opportunities, to protect all vulnerable student communities from discrimination,” the government said. It will also help bring these students into the mainstream of medical and dental education, and in turn, ensure strong public health care in the state, the government added.
