The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) led a protest in front of Pondicherry University demanding the withdrawal of NEET and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), which it alleged, were exclusionary and regressive measures.
Inaugurating the protest, G. Ramasamy, Puducherry secretary of the Front, urged the Puducherry Assembly to pass a resolution to press for withdrawal of CUET and exemption from NEET.
The CUET, introduced by the UGC for admission to undergraduate courses in all the 45 Central universities in the country, would deprive access to higher education to students from the poor, backward, the most backward, the Scheduled Castes, and the rural families, he said.
Anand, Puducherry vice president of the Front, PB Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System, Neela Gangadharan, former MLA and president of Dalit and ST Federation, K. Rajangam and V. Perumal CPI(M) leaders addressed the protesters.
The speakers demanded that education be brought back from the concurrent list to the State list. They also urged the government to crack down on coaching cabals and to focus on raising infrastructure and quality in higher education institutions.
They also wanted Pondicherry University to ensure reservations for local students across courses and fill up vacancies in faculty posts.
