Chennai: Founder leader of the opposition Pattali Makkal Katchi, the political arm of the powerful Vanniyar community, Dr S. Ramadoss has demanded that the state government get the Presidential consent for exemption from National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) in three months.
In a statement on Friday, the PMK leader said that the government must take urgent steps in this regard as Governor R.N. Ravi has already forwarded the bill seeking exemption from NEET for students to the President recently.
Notably, the political parties in Tamil Nadu except the BJP have been demanding exemption arguing that the NEET could be cleared by only those students who can afford private coaching institutions. The PMK has been at the forefront of the demand that the NEET was creating a rural, urban divide among students and that medical education was becoming inaccessible to students from poor rural backgrounds.
Dr Ramadoss also said that the PMK will be forced to conduct protest marches across the state and commence an agitation for this if the state government is not taking immediate action on the same.
Meanwhile, the Youth wing leader of the PMK said that the NEET exam for Postgraduate medical courses must be postponed for a few weeks from the scheduled date of May 21.
The students have requested the postponement of the NEET-PGA 2022 exams as there was an inordinate delay in the counselling process for the 2021 exam.
If the exams are held as scheduled, a lot of students will not get equal opportunities to be successful, the statement read.
Dr Ramadoss said that there was no harm in postponing the exams for a few weeks and a decision must be taken in the next few days taking into account the request by the students.
–IANS