Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said that the state Governor RN Ravi had forwarded the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) Exemption Bill to the Union Home Ministry, IANS reported.
On Wednesday, Stalin announced the same at the state assembly and added that according to the information he received from Governor's secretary, the NEET Exemption Bill has been forwarded for President Ram Nath Kovind's assent. The next step in the fight against NEET is to urge the Union government to get President's approval for the Bill, he said.
It was September 13, 2021, the Tamil Assembly passed the Bill. But Governor had returned it to the Speaker for reconsideration of the Assembly on February 1, saying that it was against the interests of students, particularly the rural and economically poor.
In the Raj Bhavan's statement, in which the Governor's view was stated, the Governor said that he came to a conclusion after doing a detailed study of the Bill for admission to undergraduate medical courses seeking exemption from NEET and the report of the high-level committee constituted by the state government on the matter.
But, Tamil Nadu Assembly brought the Bill again, passed it and forwarded it to the Governor for onward transmission for President's assent in February 2022.
When the Bill stayed pending before the Governor for long, CM Stalin said that not forwarding the NEET Exemption Bill to the President was an act of insult to the people of Tamil Nadu.