Tamil Nadu on Tuesday became the first State to introduce Bills in the Legislative Assembly to exempt aspirants from appearing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical and dental colleges. Many States, including, Maharashtra and Karnataka have opposed NEET.
The Tamil Nadu Admission to MBBS and BDS Courses Bill 2017, tabled by Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar, seeks to admit students to undergraduate medical courses based on their scores in the Plus Two board examinations. Separately, the Tamil Nadu Admission to Postgraduate Courses in Medicine and Dentistry Bill, 2017 seeks to admit students for postgraduate medical/dental courses based on marks obtained in the qualifying undergraduate examinations. Both the Bills are expected to have smooth passage considering that all political parties in the State have rallied against NEET. The first Bill stated that the bulk of students in Tamil Nadu come from rural areas and they do not have access to or financial means to attend coaching classes for NEET.
If NEET were to be conducted, the scheme being followed by the State with regard to admission to medical and dental courses “would be thrown out of gear, and the objective of providing quality healthcare to the rural and needy people would be defeated,” it stated.
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