Medical college admission quota would be applicable from this academic year; admissions will start soon.
Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s has given his consent to a unanimously passed bill paving the way for 7.5 per cent seats in state’s medical colleges to be reserved for government schools students, who qualify in the mandatory national medical entrance test NEET.
The quota secures 300 seats across medical colleges in the state for government students from this academic year; admissions will begin soon.
Governor Purohit signed the bill, officially making it a law, after Solicitor General’s advice that the additional quota was in “consonance with the constitution of India”.
The development comes a day after the Tamil Nadu government issued an executive order to implement the provisions of the bill – passed in September – bypassing the Mr Purohit, who had sought time for review.
The move was seen as a showdown between the AIADMK-led state government and the Raj Bhavan – an appointee of the BJP-led central government.
Medical college admission quota implementation had become a prestige issue for Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who had become the target of attack from opposition parties over the by the Governor.
With seven months to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the ruling AIADMK wants to be seen as proactive on the issue of reservation in medical colleges.
For almost a decade, Tamil Nadu governments had abolished NEET – seen as anti-poor – and made admissions to state medical colleges purely on the basis of class 12 marks. But over the last few years, the state government has failed to get an exemption from the compulsory medical entrance exam, making the issue a political hot potato.
