India News | Civic Poll: NEET Issue Dominates Campaign

Chennai, Feb 6 (PTI) The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) dominated day-one of the campaign of leaders in Tamil Nadu facing the urban local body elections on February 19.

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DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday said he will not go back on the NEET issue as it will dissuade students in the State from pursuing medical courses.

AIADMK co-coordinator and former Chief Minister K Palaniswami taunted Stalin asking him if he had ensured NEET exemption in the State as he had promised he will in the run-up to the Assembly elections last year.

“Stalin said he knew the secret of abolishing NEET. That was among his promises on which he won the elections. Let him do it. Not only NEET, people fell for his poll promises like the monthly grant of Rs 1,000 to woman-head of families, and voted the DMK to power,” Palaniswami said.

Launching the campaign against the DMK from Vanavasi in his home town of Edappadi in Salem district, Palaniswami accused the ruling party of capturing power with promises. “You (AIADMK) should expose the DMK's duplicity in this election,” the former Chief Minister told his party cadres.

While virtually launching the campaign for the DMK and alliance candidates from here this evening, Stalin said his government is determined to send the Assembly anti-NEET Bill back to the Governor R N Ravi seeking President Ram Nath Govind's assent on February 8. NEET should not be viewed superficially, the DMK leader said. “We are not opposing it for the sake of politics. There are many anti-people policies of the BJP for us to oppose,” the Chief Minister said.

NEET, according to him, is a new way of dissuading students from joining medical colleges. “That's why we are opposing it. One becomes a doctor only after writing the (college/university) exam not by clearing the screening test. We will not go back on the NEET issue,” Stalin said.

The DMK government would oppose any project that went against the interest of Tamil Nadu, he said and urged his party cadres to ensure a win in the civic polls so that the schemes reached the people.

On his part, Palaniswami charged the DMK with inaugurating the projects initiated and completed during the AIADMK rule and sought to know if Stalin had implemented any one project on his own since the last eight months. “The projects which Stalin has been inaugurating were launched or completed during the Amma (late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa) rule. Can he name one scheme which he has brought in for implementation?” Palaniswami asked. Though there were several problems, Stalin appears to find time for cycling, walking and going to the gym, he said. Realising the plight of poor and rural students, Palaniswami said he implemented 7.5 per cent horizontal reservation to enable government school students who cleared NEET to get admission in medical colleges. “I had even ensured government aid to meet their education expenses and the gesture helped many poor and rural students to realise their dreams of becoming doctors,” Palaniswami said. The DMK, he alleged, followed up on his brainchild and provided 7.5 per cent horizontal quota to government school students for admissions to undergraduate courses in engineering, agriculture, veterinary, fisheries, law and other professional courses in government and private institutions. Actor-politician and founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam Kamal Hassan, too, launched his poll campaign and introduced the contestants.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)