TN brings bills to sidestep NEET

Tamil Nadu health minister C Vijayabaskar on Tuesday moved two bills in the state legislative assembly to exclude the state from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses.

The state government maintains that the common medical entrance test - the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) that pits the Tamil medium students in Tamil Nadu and first generation learners in direct competition with others from rest of the country and puts them at a disadvantage.

And that is reason enough why the government wants to do away with the exam altogether.

According to the bill, students would be selected for MBBS and BDS on the basis of Plus Two marks while for the PG courses, besides an entrance examination work experience of candidates would be taken into account as was the case before the apex court ruling.

In 2016, the Supreme Court mandated a uniform entrance test for admission to medical courses.

The examination will be conducted by the Central Board of School Education for the undergraduate course and by the National Board of Examinations for the postgraduate courses.

Late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had strongly opposed the NEET which was sought to be introduced in the last academic year. The Centre had promulgated an ordinance last year to exclude Tamil Nadu from the common entrance exam, but this academic year, all students seeking admission to medical colleges must pass the NEET.