The Tamil Nadu government had brought in a bill to replace NEET with Class 12 examination marks for admission into medical institutions in the state.
Tamil Nadu’s attempt to exempt the state from NEET, the nationwide entrance exam for medical admissions, faced a setback on Friday after President Droupadi Murmu rejected a bill seeking to allow the state to admit students based on Class XII marks.
Chief Minister MK Stalin informed the Assembly of the rejection of the bill, which had been passed twice by the state legislature in 2021 and 2022 and had been awaiting approval from the union government since.
In June last year, the Assembly also unanimously passed a resolution urging the union government to abolish NEET and allow states to determine admissions based on school performance.
Reacting to the rejection, Stalin, who has ongoing disputes with the BJP-led central government on key issues like the delimitation exercise and ‘Hindi imposition’ ahead of next year’s elections, said Tamil Nadu had been “insulted” and called this a “black phase in federalism.”
