Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to CMs of 12 states asking them to form a united front to make education a state subject. The state governments should have powers over the Centre in regulating the education sector, Stalin opined in his letter, which was written with the aim form a federal alliance against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
Stalin requested the CMs to extend their support to ensure that the students of their respective states, "hailing from rural areas and marginalised sections of the society, are not put to hardship in obtaining admissions to higher educational institutions.”
The letter was sent to chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, and Goa.
'NEET Curbs the Rights of States'
CM Stalin also stated that the move by the Union government to introduce NEET goes against the spirit of federalism and curbs the rights of the state governments to decide on the method of admissions to medical institutions founded, established, and operated by the states. He underlined that it “violated the constitutional balance of power.”
The dispatched letters were also attached with the AK Rajan committee report that studied the impact of NEET on students from marginalised and socially underprivileged backgrounds.
The justice AK Rajan committee was requested to suggest alternative admission procedures which would benefit all students, recommend the feasibility of implementing such alternatives, and the legal steps to be undertaken to implement such fair and equitable testing. Based on the panel's recommendations, Tamil Nadu recently passed the ‘Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Act, 2021’. This effectively exempts TN students from NEET.
DMK MPs to Coax CMs
Additionally, DMK Members of Parliament have been instructed to hand over the translated copy of the AK Rajan report, in person, to the 12 chief ministers and also brief them on the measures taken by the Tamil Nadu government regarding NEET.
The letter was sent to states mostly ruled by non-BJP parties. CM Stalin signed off by asking the chief ministers to review the attached reports and reiterated the need to cooperate on the issue.
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