Former University Grants Commission chairman Sukhdev Thorat on Sunday called for abolishing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and said the National Education Policy-2020 is against inclusiveness as it calls for a uniform entrance test for all courses. has been envisaged.
He was virtually inaugurating a one-day hunger strike against NEET organized by the State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu in Chennai. Shri Thorat said that the National Education Policy does not specify the measures to provide opportunities to the socio-economically backward population. “The measures he has suggested for improving the quality of education will deprive the marginalized sections of opportunities.”
Anil Sadagopal, a former member of the Central Advisory Board of Education, lauded Tamil Nadu for being at the forefront of the struggle against NEET. He said that NEET should be viewed in the context of the National Education Policy, which encouraged commercialization of education and deprived the underprivileged of opportunities.
The State Platform for Common School System organized the fast, urging Governor RN Ravi to immediately send the bill passed by the Assembly to the President along with NEET-based admissions to undergraduate medical courses in the state.
V. Vasanthi Devi, former vice-chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, said the protest was also about the power of the state government, saffronisation and corporatisation of education, among many other questions. Tamil Nadu should forge an alliance with other states on this issue.
CPI(M) state secretary K. Balakrishnan said former governor Banwarilal Purohit had cleared the Vanniyar reservation bill within a day, but his successor had no reason to delay sending the bill against NEET to the President. VCK President Thol. Thirumavalavan said the core issue was consolidation of power by the central government. During the Emergency, all the items included in the Concurrent List of the Constitution were brought back in the State List, but education remained in the Concurrent List.
CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan urged the Governor to discharge his duty as per the Constitution and send the Bill to the President.
DMK’s Rajya Sabha member TKS Elangovan said that even before independence, when the bicameral system of governance was in place, the legislature in Madras still had the power to make laws on education. In this way the Justice Party was successful in bringing about many reforms.
D. Hariparanthaman, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, said the delay on the part of the Raj Bhavan was unjustified as the governor had no power to decide on the law. He said that the Constitution empowers the Governor to pursue a piece of legislation only in such a situation and his office should do it without delay.
While PB Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of the State Platform for Common School System, had announced a fast till the Governor passed the bill, he withdrew the decision on appeals from various leaders.
Of. Selvaperunthagai, Leader of the Congress in the Legislative Assembly; DMK youth wing secretary CVMP Ezhilarasan; Thousand Lights MLA N. azilan; General Secretary of Tamil Nadu Untouchability Abolition Morcha K. Samuel Raj; And representatives of various organizations participated in the protests.
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