Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday urged President Droupadi Murmu to give assent to the state’s anti-NEET bill and raised the issue with her during her visit here. The President was here to participate in the convocation of the Indian Maritime University. The CM handed over a letter to the President at the airport in this regard, an official release said.
The Tamil Nadu Admission to Under Graduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, originally passed by the state Assembly in September that year, was later returned by Governor RN Ravi.
It was reintroduced and passed by the Assembly in February 2022 and again sent to the Governor to ‘reserve’ the same to the President’s assent, Stalin said in the letter to Murmu.
The Governor has now forwarded it to the Union Home Ministry.
“All clarifications sought by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on the Bill based on the observations of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Higher Education, MoE and Ministry of Ayush have been provided expeditiously. Since no progress had been made after us, replies: In my letter dated August 14, 2023, I had highlighted the various negative consequences of this delay, such as lost opportunities for underprivileged students and high student suicides, and I had urged you to grant the assent without further delay,” Stalin said. in his communication to the President.
The latest questions from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have also been answered.
“But unfortunately, the assent to our bill has not been granted so far. In this scenario, I would like to reiterate that the inordinate delay in granting assent to our bill has denied medical admissions to many deserving students who could not afford expensive coaching facilities and has effectively stalled the intentions of the broad legislative, political and social consensus in Tamil Nadu. “I, therefore, request your kind and immediate intervention in this sensitive matter and urge you to agree to this at the earliest the above-mentioned bill,” he added.
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