Tamil Nadu government on Thursday passed an order to provide a 7.5 percent reservation in medical colleges to students studied from the state government schools and have cleared the NEET examination. The decision comes two days after DMK MP and party Treasurer TR Baalu appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to direct Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit to give his assent to the reservation Bill for government school students in medical courses.
In a letter, Baalu had requested Shah to direct Purohit to give his assent to the bill and help fulfill the dream of government school students in pursuing medicine as their profession in this academic year itself.
With the counselling dates for medical college admission having been announced, any further delay in assent to the Bill will be detrimental to the future of government school students aspiring to pursue medical education and the objects of the bill will be rendered infructuous as far as this academic year is concerned, Baalu added.
For a few days, the Palaniswami government was facing questions by the opposition DMK leaders over the state exemption from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
Stalin, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, had earlier said that that two Bills seeking exemption from NEET were passed unanimously in the Assembly in 2017 and sent to President Ram Nath Kovind for assent. However, the Bills were sent back to Tamil Nadu seven months later. This matter came to public notice 23 months later due to a court case.
The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Courses in Medicine, Dentistry, Indian Medicine and Homeopathy on preferential basis to the students of the Government Schools Bill, 2020 providing 7.5 percent reservation for government school students was passed by the Assembly on September 15 and had sent the governor for his assent.
Earlier, Governor Banwarilal Purohit maintained that he needed three to four weeks to arrive at a decision on the Bill for 7.5 percent horizontal reservation in medical college admissions to those who had studied in government schools in Tamil Nadu.
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