Tamil Nadu Governor returns NEET Bill; DMK demands his recall

Setting the stage for a confrontation with the Tamil Nadu Government, Governor R N Ravi has returned a Bill passed by the Assembly in September 2021 scrapping NEET for students from the state, opining that the legislation is “against interests of the students, especially the rural and economically poor students.”

The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Act, 2021, which bats for doing away with NEET and reverting to admitting students in medical colleges based on their plus-two marks, was passed by the state Assembly with support from principal opposition, AIADMK, on September 13.

Ruling DMK hit back by demanding the Governor’s “recall” immediately. Party MP T R Baalu raised the issue in the Lok Sabha on Thursday evening and sought to know why did the Governor return the Bill after “sitting on it” for five months. After this, MPs from Congress, DMK, and CPI(M) staged a walkout from Lok Sabha.

In his reaction, Chief Minister M K Stalin said people of Tamil Nadu will not accept the reasons given by the Governor and convened an all party meeting on February 5 to discuss the future course of action. The CM also said the government was prepared to bring the Bill again in the Assembly.

The Bill is a major poll promise of the ruling DMK, which has time and again reiterated that it will even take the legal route to get the exam scrapped.

In an unusual move, the Raj Bhavan issued a press note announcing that the Governor has returned the Bill to the Speaker of the House, M Appavu, for “reconsideration.”

The Governor, the press note said, concluded that the Bill “is against interests of the students, especially the rural and economically poor students of the State” after a detailed study of the legislation and a report submitted by Justice (retired) A K Rajan which formed the basis for the legislation.

The Raj Bhavan said the Governor also examined the pre-NEET status of social justice in medical admission, especially for students coming from socially and economically poor backgrounds,” almost toeing the line taken by the state unit of BJP.

”…the Hon'ble Governor has returned the Bill to the Hon'ble Speaker, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on February 01, 2022, giving detailed reasons, for its reconsideration by the House,” the statement added. The statement also referred to the Supreme Court judgement in 2020 which upheld NEET as “it prevents economic exploitation of poor students and is in furtherance of social justice.”

The Governor’s move comes amid DMK’s stringent criticism of his actions, including “sitting on” the Bill for five months and his indirect batting for the introduction of Hindi in Tamil Nadu. The statement also comes after “continuous pressure” from the DMK which had knocked at the doors of the President, Union Home Minister, and Governor seeking assent for the Bill.

Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap told DH that the Governor will have to sign the Bill and send it to the President of India if the Assembly passes it again. “In case the returned Bill comes to him again, the Governor will have to put his seal of approval and send it to the President. It will be left to the President of India to take a call,” Kashyap said.

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