DMK says its ready to protest alongside AIADMK over 7.5 pc quota in medical admission for govt school students

 The DMK on Wednesday said it is ready to join forces with the AIADMK government and protest for getting the 7.5 per cent quota in medical admissions for state-run school students, a day after the ruling dispensation sought early clearance by the Governor for a bill envisaging the reservation.

The DMK chief's offer to work with the government and protest alongside AIADMK comes a day after a group of ministers, includingK A Sengottaiyan and D Jayakumar, called on Purohit at the Raj Bhavan here to seek his nod for the bill.The meeting came in the backdrop of various political parties, including the DMK and PMK, urging the Governor to give assent to the bill so that the quota can be implemented this year itself.

After the meeting, Jayakumar had said the government was confident that Purohit would come out with a "favourable decision" on the bill which is aimed at lending a helping hand to students from government schools.

In his letter to the Governor, Stalin said government school students could benefit from reservation in this academic year itself only if the Governor gave his assent to the bill "without further delay."

He recalled that DMK, the principal opposition party in the state, had supported the TN Admission to Undergraduate Courses in Medicine, Dentistry, Indian Medicine and Homeopathy on Preferential Basis to the students of the Government Schools Bill 2020 in the assembly.

Stalin noted that his party has been demanding scrapping of NEET which acted as a "hindrance" for rural and urban poor to pursue medicine.

The 7.5 per cent reservation bill, passed unanimously by the assembly and sent to the Governor for his assent, was to bring equality between government and private school students, he said.