Tamil Nadu to Resend Anti-NEET Bill to Governor During Special Session

A special session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly will be held on February 8 to pass a resolution again to resend the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, seeking exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). 

The decision to convene the special session was taken at an all-party meeting with the exception of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on February 5 after governor RN Ravi returned the Bill saying it was “against interests of the students of the state, especially the rural and economically poor” on February 1.  

The relations between the governor and the ruling party are set to worsen with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) mouthpiece Murasoli lashing out at Ravi for his “favourable comments” on NEET and against the state’s two-language policy. 

Apart from the Opposition, former Madras High Court (HC) judge Justice K Chandru also has blamed the governor for returning the Bill. Ravi’s three-day visit to New Delhi starting from Monday has been called off amid the row. 

ONE-DAY SPECIAL SESSION

Soon after the all-party meeting concluded, Speaker M Appavu announced that a special session will be convened during which the Assembly is expected to resend the Bill to the governor.

Chief minister MK Stalin would introduce the Bill, which is expected to be supported by all parties though the BJP has not announced its participation in the session. The governor will not have any choice but to accept and forward the Bill for the President’s assent. However, he can hold on to the Bill, which could further worsen his ties with the Stalin government.

The return of the Bill by the governor echoed in Parliament with Tamil Nadu MPs trooping into the well of the Lok Sabha and walking out of the Rajya Sabha. 

CRITICISM AGAINST THE GOVERNOR

The Bill was passed by the Assembly on September 13, 2021, five days before Ravi took charge. After he held on to the Bill for long, Stalin and senior members of his Cabinet visited Ravi and urged him to forward the Bill for the President’s assent. However, the Bill was returned to the Speaker after 142 days with the Raj Bhavan issuing a statement detailing the reasons for returning it on February 3. 

This sparked off criticism from multiple quarters, including political parties and former members of the judiciary. The DMK, the Congress and the Left accused the governor of violating his duties. 

Justice K Chandru, a former HC Judge, went on to question if the governor is the leader of the four MLAs in a reference to the BJP adding that Ravi disregarded the resolution of the 230 MLAs. 

CPI(M) state secretary K Balakrishnan said that the governor cannot return a Bill on a subject which is in the Concurrent List. The Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi condemned the governor’s action as well. 

AIADMK IN DILEMMA 

The AIADMK continues to be in a dilemma over the Bill. After boycotting the all-party meeting, the party extended support to the DMK government’s legal efforts to seek exemption from NEET the very next day.

The AIADMK, which has been unable to support the government despite breaking ties with the BJP, had passed a Bill on similar lines in February 2017. The fate of the Bill along with another Bill on admission to postgraduate courses in medicine and dentistry was unknown till July 2019, when a PIL was filed in the HC. The then-AIADMK government hadn’t disclosed the President’s response until the Union home ministry’s counsel informed the court after the petitioners sought clarification about the Bills. 

The CPI(M) has accused the AIADMK of double standard on NEET and welcoming the returning of the Bill