Tamil Nadu government convenes all-party meet on NEET exemption Bill on April 9

The Bill, passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, sought to exempt students from NEET-based admissions for undergraduate medical courses in government institutions.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday to discuss further steps regarding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) exemption Bill for which the President has withheld assent.

The Bill, passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, sought to exempt students from NEET-based admissions for undergraduate medical courses in government institutions.

---

CM Stalin accused the Union Government of disregarding the state’s well-documented justifications for the exemption. He said the Centre “ignored” detailed explanations submitted by the Tamil Nadu Government to multiple Union ministries, including Health, AYUSH, Home Affairs, and Higher Education.

Calling the Centre’s action a “black chapter in the history of cooperative federalism”, CM Stalin said it undermines the dignity of the state legislature and the democratic will of the people of Tamil Nadu.

He added that the state would consult legal experts to determine the future action. The Chief Minister recounted the legislative history of the Bill, noting that it was first passed unanimously in the Assembly on September 13, 2021, based on the recommendations of a high-level committee led by retired High Court judge Justice A. K. Rajan.

The committee had studied the impact of NEET on students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. However, the Bill was returned by the Governor for reconsideration.

In response, an all-party meeting was convened on February 5, 2022, and the Bill was re-adopted in the Assembly on February 8, 2022.

Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) dismissed the all-party meeting as a “drama”, accusing the DMK government of failing to ensure the cancellation of NEET.

He announced that his party, the AIADMK, would boycott the meeting. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has four MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, has also stated that it will not attend the meeting.

As the NEET issue continues to evoke strong political and public reactions across Tamil Nadu, today’s meeting is expected to shape the next phase of the state’s fight for exemption, with legal recourse likely on the table.