AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam said on Saturday that but for the 7.5% horizontal reservation law enacted by the AIADMK government last year for NEET-qualified government school students, the number of such students joining medical courses would have been hardly eight.
In a statement, he recalled that in 2019-20, only six government school students had joined the courses. Driven by the difficulties faced by rural and poor students, the AIADMK government framed the law, which helped to increase the number of government school students joining the courses to over 400.
Mr. Panneerselvam said Medical and Family Welfare Minister Ma. Subramanian’s statement that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) would be held this year exposed the DMK that had promised to get the test withdrawn if it was voted in.
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He asked how it was fair for the DMK to blame his party for facilitating the conduct of the coaching classes, while it was the DMK that had paved the way for the introduction of the test.
He stressed that the DMK, while being part of the Congress-led government at the Centre, should have taken steps to stall the introduction of the NEET or, at least, withdrawn its support to the government.