AIADMK’s Puducherry unit joint secretary and former Member of Parliament M. Ramadass has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should evince keen interest in resolving the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) issue by postponing the “hurried decision” legally with the Cabinet’s approval.
Terming the Centre’s decision to admit students to medical courses from this year through NEET unfortunate, Mr. Ramadass said, “It is against public interest besides causing dismay, distress and shock to students who have just completed Plus-Two.”
The existing system of admission on mark-based merit system ensures objective admission and equal opportunity to all students from backward communities, especially, from rural areas.
Mr. Ramadass also said 29 States and 7 Union Territories adopted varying systems of education such as CBSE, Samacheer Kalvi, International Secondary Examination in different languages and social environment producing varying competencies among students creating inequalities. “Adopting an equal treatment by conducting NEET among unequal students can only endanger larger public interest,” he said.
Members of Parliament may discuss this national issue when Parliament is in session now, he suggested.
Mr. Ramadass said that as far as Puducherry is concerned, the Lt. Governor should convene a meeting of Secretaries, analyse the legal implications of this issue on Puducherry and initiate action to file a review petition in the Supreme Court following Tamil Nadu.
The petition should mention the heterogeneous education system prevailing in the Union Territory – Tamil Nadu system in Puducherry and Karaikal, Kerala system in Mahe and Andhra system in Yanam - the unrest prevailing among the students in the wake of the announcement of the NEET and the educational inequalities likely to be generated.
He also added that the government should pray for exemption to Puducherry from the national examination or seek permission for the Union Territory to hold its own entrance examination based on its syllabus. Mr. Ramadass also urged that the Puducherry government to take appropriate but immediate steps to approach both the Central government and the Supreme Court.
‘Decision to admit students to medical courses from this year through NEET unfortunate’
