NEET 2017 exam: Tamil Nadu representatives meet Union ministers in final effort to seek state's exemption

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday made the “final effort” in seeking exemption for the state’s students from common nation-wide medical entrance test NEET, with its representatives taking up the issue with Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh.

Tamil Nadu health minister C Vijayabaskar, accompanied by health secretary J Radhakrishnan, met Union health minister Nadda and minister of state at the PMO Singh, in Delhi.

An official release recalled a series of meetings by Tamil Nadu ministers, including Chief Minister K Palaniswamy, with Prime Minster Narendra Modi and his other colleagues on the issue in the last few days.

“Following these, as a final effort, Vijayabaskar met Nadda and Singh to pressure them for an exemption for Tamil Nadu from the National Entrance Cum Eligibility Test (NEET),” the release said.

The minister was accompanied by Radhakrishnan, it added.

Tamil Nadu has been seeking exemption from NEET, saying it would affect the students from the state.

In February, the Assembly had passed two bills seeking to pave the way for the continuation of undergraduate medical admissions on the basis of Class 12 marks, exempting Tamil Nadu from the ambit of NEET.

The rival AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma faction, led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam, had also met Modi on the same issue.

Opposition parties, including DMK, have been upping the ante against the AIADMK government on the matter, with the DMK holding a human chain protest here last week to press for President’s assent to the two bills.