The student community in Tamil Nadu who have been plagued by the burning issue of NEET will have reason to celebrate if the Congress-DMK alliance is voted to power in the State.
The student community in Tamil Nadu who have been plagued by the burning issue of NEET will have reason to celebrate if the Congress-DMK alliance is voted to power in the State.
Congress President, Rahul Gandhi who had earlier maintained that NEET is a resolvable issue saying, "It is discriminatory to the students of Tamil Nadu and we could work out a flexible solution,” has confirmed now that NEET will be scrapped in line with their party's manifesto.
In an all out swipe against the NEET examination being implemented across the country, Rahul Gandhi confirmed the Congress' stand in their election manifesto this year which states, "The NEET examination is discriminatory against students from certain states. In addition, it interferes with the State Government's right to admit students domiciles in the State to medical colleges in that State.
Hence, we will take measures to dispense with the NEET examination and substitute it with a State-level examination of equivalent standard, approved by the competent authority for admission to medical colleges in that State."
The late former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had ensured that NEET was not imposed on students in the State during her tenure. However, after her passing, the ruling AIADMK had not managed to get an exemption for TN students from NEET. The promise to scrap the medical entrance exam was made by the Congress ally DMK, as well as rival AIADMK in their manifestos that were released last week.
The Congress' election manifesto also highlights, "We will review the distribution of legislative fields in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and build a consensus on transferring some legislative fields from List III (Concurrent list) to List II (State List). We will reduce the size of Ministries and Departments in the Central Government in such areas where sufficient capacity has been built by the State Governments.
The Congress promises to give primacy to State Governments in subjects such as school education, primary and secondary health care, child nutrition, drinking water, sanitation and distribution of electricity, and ensure that the Central Government plays a supportive role to State Governments.