BJP State secretary K. Nagarajan has filed a public interest litigation petition before the Madras High Court seeking to quash an order issued by the Tamil Nadu government on June 10, constituting a committee headed by Justice A.K. Rajan to study the impact of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on medical aspirants.
The case has been listed for admission before Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy on Tuesday. Stating that the committee had already begun eliciting opinions from members of the public, the petitioner pressed for an interim stay on the operation of the government order.
According to the litigant, the committee had been constituted on the basis of a view taken by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin that government school students and those from rural backgrounds were struggling to get admission to medical colleges owing to the introduction of NEET and therefore, such admissions should be made on the basis of Plus Two marks.
Despite having taken such a view, the government had chosen to constitute a nine-member committee, headed by a retired judge of the High Court, to study the impact of the test, the petitioner said, terming it a wasteful expenditure of public money.
Referring to the recent constitution of the National Medical Commission (NMC), which replaced the Medical Council of India, the petitioner said any suggestion for improvement of medical education could be made to the NMC. He contended that the NMC was a body chaired by a medical professional of outstanding ability.
Mr. Nagarajan said NEET was introduced after several studies and legal pronouncements. Claiming that several educational institutions in the State were promoting rote learning in higher secondary classes, the litigant said that relying upon Plus Two marks for medical admissions would lead to the selection of “average minds and below average students”.
Contending that students in the State had become accustomed to NEET in the last four years, the petitioner accused the State government of politicising the issue and creating confusion. He said the constitution of the committee was far beyond the competence of the State and termed it a reckless act.
