Tamil Nadu Guv clears 7.5% NEET admissions quota to medical aspirants from govt schools

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday approved to the unanimously passed bill seeking 7.5% reservation in medical colleges for government school students who qualify in NEET. The approval came a day after the AIADMK government issued an executive order that bypassed the Governor to implement the bill's provisions as the admission process is set to begin soon.

The executive order was seen as a clash between the AIADMK and the Governor - appointed by Central BJP government. The two parties are allies in Tamil Nadu. Though the state assembly had passed the bill in September, Governor Purohit sought three to four weeks to decide on the bill after Opposition leader MK Stalin sent him a letter requesting for speedy approval of the bill. 

Giving his assent, Purohit said he had received a favourable opinion from the Solicitor General that the bill "is in consonance with the constitution".  The newly enacted law allows around 300 NEET-qualified government school students (largely from marginalised and underprivileged families) to secure admission in medical colleges, both private and state-run, from this academic year itself.

READ | AIADMK Govt Takes Executive Route To Implement 7.5 Pc Quota In Medical Courses

READ | DMK Asks TN CM To Mount Pressure On PM Modi For OBC Quota This Year In Medical Courses

Politics over reservation quota

With elections due in seven months, Opposition had been targetting Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami over his inability to get the Governor's nod on the bill despite being an ally of the BJP. The AIADMK government had abolished medical entrance test in Tamil Nadu for nearly a decade, allowing admission to its medical colleges purely on the basis of class 12 marks. However, it failed to get an exemption from NEET. 

READ | DMK Chief MK Stalin Warns Of Intensified Protest If Approval Of 7.5% Quota Bill Is Delayed

Successive state governments have argued that poor students from government school cannot afford private coaching, and NEET hampers their dreams of becoming doctors. At least 13 medical aspirants have committed suicide, including a few who had scored well in class 12 but could not qualify in NEET.

DMK Chief MK Stalin, who had recently led a protest to mount pressure on Purohit, thanked the Governor after giving his assent. The party claimed that its appeals and protests changed Purohit's stand.

READ | DMK Protests Against Governor For Delaying Nod To NEET Quota