Will never clear Tamil Nadu's anti-NEET bill; entrance exam to stay, says Governor R N Ravi

The achievements without the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) were not enough for the future, Ravi said, adding the qualifying test is here to stay.

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Saturday reiterated his opposition to the anti-NEET bill passed by the state Assembly, saying he will never give his assent to the legislation, which is now pending before the President.

The Governor, who returned The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Act, 2021 to the Assembly only to be sent back to him, told a gathering of students who cleared NEET and their parents that the exam was here to stay.

“I will be the last man to give it clearance. Never, ever. I do not want my children to feel intellectually disabled. I want our children to compete and be the best. They have proved it," he said in response to a question raised by A Ramasamy, whose daughter cleared NEET and attended the interaction with the Governor.

Ramaswamy wanted to know from Ravi when he would clear the anti-NEET Bill. “I am telling you very frankly. I will never give clearance to the NEET (exemption) Bill,” the Governor told the parents, who insisted that doctors in Tamil Nadu had accomplished several things even before the nation-wide exam was introduced.

NEET has been a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu where the exam is perceived as “anti-poor” and “discriminatory” in nature against students from government schools and from rural backgrounds. At least two dozens students have died by suicide since 2017 due to their failure to clear the exam or out of fear of appearing for it.

The DMK government got the Bill passed in 2021 but Ravi rejected it in February 2022 following which the legislation was passed once again and sent back to him. The Act is now pending before President Droupadi Murmu.

At Saturday’s interaction, the Governor batted for NEET saying achievements without the exam were not enough for the future and that a myth was being propagated that only those getting separate coaching could clear the medical entrance.

“Anyway, it has gone to the President because it is a subject of Concurrent List, it is a subject to which only the President is competent to give clearance to…The book they have prescribed-- the CBSE book, is a standard. If the standard is lower than that, don't blame that standard. Try to raise the standard," he said.

The Governor’s remarks are set to intensify his confrontation with the government on the issue and other matters.