Governor should immediately forward NEET exemption bill for President’s approval, demands SFI

The exam has made medical courses inaccessible to students from poor backgrounds, representatives of the Students’ Federation of India, who attempted to march to Raj Bhavan on Wednesday, said

The SFI alleged that Governor R.N. Ravi was deliberately delaying the forwarding of the bill

Members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) attempted to gherao Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Wednesday, urging the Governor to swiftly forward the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) exemption bill

passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly for the President’s assent.

Alleging that Governor R.N. Ravi was deliberately delaying the forwarding of the bill, the SFI said that the delay of more than 45 days since the passing of the bill was an insult to the people of Tamil Nadu and the elected representatives who passed the bill. [The Bill was passed when Banwarilal Purohit was the Governor.]

Mayukh Biswas, national general secretary, SFI, who led the protest, alleged that Governors in the country were acting as puppets of the BJP-led Union government. He claimed that NEET was introduced to benefit the corporate [coaching] sector and it went against States’ rights and federal principles. The exam was making medical courses inaccessible to students from poor and marginalised backgrounds.

Stating that many NEET aspirants had died by suicide in Tamil Nadu, he said that there should be no more loss of lives. The NEET was only the tip of the iceberg and the implementation of the National Education Policy would destroy the future of the student community, he said. Congratulating the DMK government for its measures against NEET, he said that the SFI was organising protests across the country on Wednesday against the exam.

Hailing the Tamil Nadu government for reaching out to other State governments against NEET, V. Mariappan, State secretary, SFI, said that the government should take the struggle to the people and protest on the streets as only that will mount pressure on the Governor and the Union government. He said that there was no reason for the Governor to delay the bill, as it had measures to prevent commercialisation of medical education and produce quality medical professionals, which were the same objectives for which NEET was purportedly brought in.

A large number of cadres who took part in the protest were detained by the police as they tried to march towards Raj Bhavan.

(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)