Shortly after Union Health Minister JP Nadda announced on Monday that the Centre may approach the Supreme Court for a solution to the standoff over the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) with several states, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said his government will seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to defer the second phase to 2018.
Expressing solidarity, Mr Fadnavis said, “My view is, an injustice has been done to our students aspiring to become doctors. There is no way they can overcome the language barrier and adjust to the change in syllabus at such short notice.”
On Monday, Mr Nadda held a meeting in New Delhi with health and education ministers from several states on conducting NEET-2 on July 24 during which problems including ongoing state board exams, the language issue and different syllabi followed by the state and the Centre were discussed.
During the meeting, Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde said students taking exams in Marathi will find it tough to adjust to the CBSE board’s English-medium syllabus, which is not available in the local language. After the meeting, Mr Tawde requested the Union Health Minister and the Centre to approach the court or defer the exams using the ordinance route.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of parents met Fadnavis and asked for the state’s intervention in the matter by way of an ordinance. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray also met the CM regarding the issue. “The state government has no power to issue an ordinance, but I have assured everyone we will do whatever is in our power to protect the future of the students,” Mr Fadnavis said.
State govt asks Centre to defer NEET-2 by way of an ordinance and approach the court
