IANS

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said on Wednesday that Governor R.N. Ravi has forwarded the National Eligibiliy-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) Exemption Bill to the Union Home Ministry.

Announcing this in the state Assembly, Stalin said he was informed by the Governor's secretary that the NEET Exemption Bill has been forwarded by the Governor to the Union Home Ministry for President Ram Nath Kovind's assent.

Stalin said the next step in the struggle against NEET is to urge the Central government to get the President's assent for the Bill.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed the Bill on September 13, 2021, but the Governor had returned it to the Speaker for reconsideration of the Assembly on February 1, terming it against the interest of the students.

In a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan, it was said that the Governor was of the opinion that the Bill was against the interest of the students, especially the rural and economically poor students of the State.

According to the statement, Ravi came to the conclusion after detailed study of the Bill for admission to undergraduate medical courses seeking exemption from NEET, and the report of the high-level committee constituted by the state government in this regard.

However, the Tamil Nadu Assembly reconsidered the Bill and passed it again. The Bill was again forwarded to Ravi for onward transmission for President's assent in February 2022.

The Bill was pending with Ravi for a long time, forcing Stalin to say that not forwarding the NEET Exemption Bill to the President is an act of 'insulting the people'.

scrollToTop