From Jayalalithaa To PM Narendra Modi, A 'Thank You' And A 'NEET' Request

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi today for the move to keep states out of the common medical entrance test NEET for a year and urged him to make it permanent for her state.

In a letter, Ms Jayalalithaa called NEET or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test a direct infringement on the rights of states and said the prime minister must ensure that the system is never forced on her state.

"The introduction of NEET would cause grave injustice to the students of Tamil Nadu who have already been covered by a fair and transparent admission policy, which has been working well," she said.

Tamil Nadu stopped entrance tests for medical aspirants nine years ago and follows a system of admissions based on Class 12 scores. The system gives a level playing field to rural students but the common exam favours "urban elite students", Ms Jayalalithaa wrote.

Referring to the Centre's ordinance or executive order to keep states out of NEET, she said: "For the time being, it put at rest the mental agony, stress and anxiety of lakhs of students and their parents aspiring for medical admission for the current year in the state quota."

NEET will not apply to states for at least a year after government's ordinance or executive order to bypass a Supreme Court ruling was cleared by President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday.

Several states strongly objected to the court's ruling last month that a common test for medical courses will be held across India to do away with corruption in multiple medical entrance tests held by states and private colleges. States complained that the exam left regional language students at a disadvantage and would favour those who studied in central board schools.

When the court refused to review its decision, the Centre decided to bring an ordinance.