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AIADMK blames Congress-DMK for bringing in NEET, and for student deaths

The legislators objected to the AIADMK’s stand that the previous Union government led by the Congress-DMK alliance was responsible for the introduction of NEET.

Congress MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly were evicted from the session on Tuesday after they disrupted discussions on the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET). The legislators objected to the AIADMK’s stand that the previous Union government led by the Congress and DMK alliance (in the 2009 general elections) was responsible for the introduction of NEET and that former Congress Minister P Chidambaram’s wife Nalini Chidambaram had fought in the Supreme Court to bring the examination to Tamil Nadu.

The arguments began after P Dhanapal, the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, called for parties to express their views and opposition to NEET. The first statements were reportedly made by DMK chief MK Stalin. Following this, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami gave a forceful speech blaming the Congress-DMK alliance, which had come to power in 2009, for the examination itself.

“In 2010, it was your alliance that introduced NEET. You are responsible and the whole country knows this,” the Chief Minister said. “The DMK is responsible for the death of 13 NEET aspirants,” he added.

The AIADMK also pointed out that former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had fought against NEET in the Supreme Court while the wife of Congress leader P Chidambaram had fought for it.

The reference to the leader’s wife and advocate Nalini Chidambaram agitated the Congress, which said that her individual actions cannot be mentioned and that it must be struck off the record. The Speaker reportedly refused this, which led to the disruption in the Assembly, and the Congress MLAs were eventually evicted.

“The AIADMK said that Congress brought NEET, but at the time, it was optional for all states and they could take a call,” said Congress leader KR Ramasamy, once he was outside the Assembly. “They are saying Congress purposely brought NEET. When cases were in the Supreme Court, several lawyers, including Nalini Chidambaram, were part of it. But Congress has been against NEET, and Nalini Chidambaram cannot be brought into this. We said that this should not be said but the Speaker did not accept this,” he added.

The debate in the Assembly over NEET comes following the deaths by suicide of three students over the fear of writing the examination and the inability to get seats in medical colleges. All three aspirants who died within a span of three days had spent the year preparing for NEET.

The MCI (Medical Council of India) published the Gazette of India on December 21, 2010, which modified the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997, to introduce the single eligibility criteria and entrance test to qualify for admission to MBBS and other medical courses. Although the first NEET exam was proposed to take place in 2012, several objections delayed the entrance exam. The first phase was finally conducted in 2016.

The death of the three students last week within 36 hours sparked fresh protests against NEET. Actor Suriya, too, raised his voice against NEET and spoke about the unfair education system.

Source: The News Minute