CHENNAI: Asserting that the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) would be held across the country, including in Tamil Nadu this year, Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said the state government has been given full powers to provide special reservation for the students from rural areas to get admitted to the medical and dental courses.
In a brief chat with reporters at the airport here on his arrival from New Delhi, he said it has been decided to introduce NEET across the country.
”We have made it very clear that NEET has to be implemented in all the states and in this state (TN) also.”
He said the Tamil Nadu government feels that the people and students coming from the rural background would not be able to adjusted in the NEET admission process.
”For that, I have told them that for the people of students coming from the state board or from rural background, they have got full freedom to have their own reservation policy and give them special reservation for them so that people from rural areas are taken into medical education”, Mr Nadda said.
”It is for the Tamil Nadu government to do it as reservation is a state policy programme. It was for the state government to think about it”, he added.
Asked whether Tamil Nadu would be exempted this year from NEET, Mr Nadda said ”we have told last year itself and we are very clear about it that NEET has to be implemented.”
”The Bills passed in the State Assembly were sent to President Pranab Mukherjee and it came to the Union Home Ministry for comments from us. We have given our comments that NEET is an uniform entrance eligibility exam test which has given very good results and we should go forward on the issue”, Mr Nadda said, making it clear that no exemption would be given to Tamil Nadu from NEET this year.
While passing the Bills in the State Assembly last month, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said ”we want exemption for seats in government medical colleges and government quota in private medical colleges and not for seats belonging to private colleges and deemed universities”.
It may be recalled that during his meeting in New Delhi, the Chief Minister informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Tamil Nadu has a fair and transparent admission policy for medical colleges.
The imposition of NEET would cause grave injustice to students from rural areas and sought the Centre’s approval for Tamil Nadu’s Bills seeking exemption from NEET so that the Presidential Assent could be obtained at the earliest.
(AGENCIES)
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