The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi has proposed immediate and long-term steps that need to be taken to ensure that Tamil Nadu is exempted from NEET at an all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin in Chennai on Saturday.
Presenting the views on behalf of its president Thol. Thirumavalavan, the VCK said that since the Governor had not said anything in particular about certain sections of the anti-NEET Bill or suggest any amendments to it, the same Bill should be passed again in the Assembly without any changes.
“The findings of the Justice A.K. Rajan Committee should be explained to refute the Governor’s opinion that rural and poor students have benefited because of NEET. Appropriate political pressure should be exerted to ensure that the Governor does not keep ignoring the legislation without taking action on it. The State government should unite political parties in this issue and take this forward,” the party said.
According to the note presented by the party, a few schools should be picked in every district, which can be upgraded into special NEET coaching centres to ensure that government school students from across Tamil Nadu do well in NEET instead of the current trend where only students from a few districts are doing well in NEET [till the entrance test is dispensed with]. “The fee structure in private NEET coaching centres should be streamlined,” it said.
As a part of long-term plans, the party said steps should be taken to amend Article 200 of the Constitution of India to ensure that any law related to the subjects within State or Concurrent List, passed in the State Assembly, should be granted assent by the Governor/President within a certain time frame. It demanded appropriate amendments to Article 254 (2) to ensure that President of India provides assent to laws passed by a State government within a specific time period.
“If he [President] has concerns about the law, Article 201 should be amended in such a way that mandates President of India to seek opinion from the Supreme Court. With the powers vested in the State government by Article 131, State government must approach the Supreme Court regarding NEET,” the VCK said.
