The State Platform for Common School System - Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) has urged Governor R.N. Ravi to forward for presidential assent the Bill passed unanimously by the Assembly last month to exempt the State from the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET).
In a letter to the Governor on Saturday, SPCSS-TN general secretary P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu said there had been no information from the Raj Bhavan though it had been more than a month since the Bill was sent to the Governor for the second time. He pointed out that the Raj Bhavan took 135 days to return the Bill when it was sent to the Governor for the first time last year.
“Morally, legally and constitutionally, the Honourable Governor will be failing in his duty if the said Bill is kept in abeyance, just because the Constitution of India has not provided any time limit [for the Governor to decide on the matter],” the letter said.
Citing Article 200 of the Constitution, the letter said that “if the Bill is passed again by the House or Houses with or without amendment and presented to the Governor for assent, the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom”.
The letter added that unexplained and unnecessary delay not only defeated the purpose of the Bill but also frustrated the people and their democratic aspirations. ”The delay exhibits arbitrariness, and is construed as an authoritative response to the democratic voice,” it added.
With the Tamil Nadu government announcing the timetable for school examinations, the letter said that those in Class 12 with an aspiration to join medical courses were waiting with anxiety to know whether the democratic process would yield any result.
It further argued that the State was well within its rights to legislate against NEET, and the legal arguments made against the Bill were because of deliberate misinterpretation of the Constitution and the judgments of the Supreme Court.
