The State Platform for Common School System - Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) has appealed to the State government to urgently introduce a new bill in the legislative assembly to admit students to undergraduate medical courses based on Plus Two marks. It urged the State to follow its own policy for admission to postgraduate medical courses as well.
In a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister, the SPCSS-TN said that if the Assembly cannot be convened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then an ordinance for the same could be promulgated and necessary steps taken to get the assent of President of India.
Acknowledging that a bill already passed by the Assembly in 2017 had still not received Presidential assent, P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, SCSS-TN, in the memorandum argued that there was a strong case for Tamil Nadu to pass another bill.
He contended that apart from encouraging commercialisation of medical education and denying opportunity for aspiring and meritorious students from socio-economically backward backgrounds, NEET has also eroded the public health system in Tamil Nadu.
He said that the Supreme Court judgments on NEET have acknowledged the prerogative of the States to follow their own admission process. He added that the same has been confirmed by reports of parliamentary standing committees in the past. Apart from this, he argued that Article 254 (2) of the Constitution and the items in the State and Concurrent Lists have clearly established the supremacy of State governments in adopting their own admission process for educational institutions.
