Health minister Ma. Subramanian issued a point-by-point rebuttal to the issues raised by Governor R.N. Ravi while sending the Bill back to the Speaker and said the Governor’s act of unilaterally sending the Bill back without sending it to the President of India was unconstitutional.
“Under Article 200 of the Constitution, the Governor should have sent the Bill to the President and if the President had any doubts, he should have sent the Bill to the Assembly through the Governor. The Governor cannot unilaterally send the Bill back. This is unconstitutional,” Mr. Subramanian said during the special Assembly session.
He also said the Governor’s statement that the report of the high-level committee took a “jaundiced view” was absolutely wrong.
Data-driven findings
The Minister said the Committee had provided data in the report and had taken the views and opinions of the public and presented the report after detailed discussions with experts. He added that all the political parties in the Assembly had extended their support to the NEET Exemption Bill.
The Minister said the committee had provided seven recommendations to the government and after detailed deliberations by a committee of secretaries led by the Chief Secretary, the government decided on the third recommendation based on which the Bill was brought in. “It is wrong on the part of the Governor to say that this Bill was brought in based on some report,” he said.
Mr. Subramanian said the view of the Governor on the issue of social justice seemed to insult the high-level committee.
He said the report had made it clear that NEET required preparation of two to three years for a student and involved additional fees for coaching that caused severe hardship to financially backward students in rural and urban areas.
Wrong approach
He added that it was not the right approach of the Governor to point out a Supreme Court judgment when he should instead have sent a Bill passed by the Assembly to the President.
Mr. Subramanian said in the case of Modern Dental College and Research Centre vs the State of Madhya Pradesh, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court had upheld the right of States to enact such laws.
