The Dravidar Kazhagam will spearhead a State-wide demonstration with like-minded organisations in front of Central government offices on March 23, demanding that the State government assert its rights in framing educational policies, its president K. Veeramani said in Tiruchi on Friday.
Education being in concurrent list, the Centre could not exercise exclusive right and impose NEET (National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test) and NEXT (National Exit Test).
“The Central Government cannot dictate terms. Already, nine lives have been lost in Tamil Nadu due to NEET,” Mr. Veeramani told journalists on the sidelines of the general council meeting of the Dravidar Kazhagam. Hospitals, vital for medical education, come under the department of Health, a State subject, he said.
The State government must enact a law again since framing an educational policy was a matter of right and not a concession.
The move to extend age concession hitherto enjoyed by backward classes and Scheduled Castes to forward castes, implied weakening of reservation based on social justice that was brought about through struggles by the late leaders of the Justice Party and the Dravidian parties. Caste-wise census was a necessity to make sure that the benefits of reservation reached the target population, he said.
Welcoming the Bill passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly to declare parts of Cauvery Delta as a Protected Agricultural Zone, Mr. Veeramani, however, said there was no certainty that it would not face the same fate as the NEET exemption Bills that were rejected by the Centre. Rather than hurrying with the Bill, the State government ought to have made it comprehensive as emphasised by the DMK, Mr. Veeramani said.
In all, 14 resolutions relating to social justice and educational system under the purview of the Central and State governments were adopted at the general council meeting.
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