Two months after Chief Minister M.K. Stalin informed the Assembly that Governor R.N. Ravi had forwarded Tamil Nadu’s NEET exemption Bill to the Union Home Ministry for being sent to the President for assent, the Raj Bhavan has refused to share information on its status.
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Responding to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to know the status of the Bill, C. Ramaprabha, Under Secretary to the Governor, in a July 7 reply, said the matter is “under continuous process of the appropriate authority” and hence “information could not be provided at this stage”.
The applicant, P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu, had on March 29 raised 15 questions to the Governor on The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, which was readopted by the Assembly after it was returned by the Governor. Among the questions were what action was taken on the Bill by the Governor and what was its current status. Incidentally, on May 4, Mr. Stalin had said the Governor’s Secretary had spoken to him on the phone and informed him that the Bill, seeking to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET for admission to medical courses, was “forwarded” to the Home Ministry.
Mr. Babu on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Minister, stating “The [RTI Act] reply raises a serious question whether the Bill is still in Raj Bhavan.” He appealed to Mr. Stalin to ascertain the status of the Bill and take action for securing the assent of the President.
He has also preferred an appeal before the designated Appellate Authority at Raj Bhavan. Noting that the Raj Bhavan had responded to his application after 98 days, as against the stipulated time limit of 30 days, Mr. Babu has said his first two questions begged a “direct reply”. The reply did not mention if the Bill was under the consideration of the Raj Bhavan or the President’s office. Hence, he sought a direct response to his queries.