Thiruvallur (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 15 (ANI): Amid the row over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG exam 2024, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday said that following the steps of Tamil Nadu, the entire nation is now opposing the test, adding that both NEET and the New Education Policy are “not necessary.”
The NEET-UG exam, held on May 5, 2024, has been mired in controversy, with allegations of cheating and impersonation.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister earlier today inaugurated the expansion scheme of Morning Tiffin for school students in government-aided schools in Tamil Nadu.
“Dravidian Model government and I think that nothing should be an obstacle to our Tamil Nadu students education. Even if that is hunger, NEET or Union Government New Education Policy. Our first priority is to break those obstacles, whichever they are,” Stalin said in his address at the event.
He further said that early on, the state government used to question the central government, but today the apex court is also raising questions.
“When we started to oppose NEET, many asked questions why we were opposing NEET. But today seeing the malpractices in the NEET, Supreme Court has started to raise questions. Students. Various State chief ministers have started to oppose NEET. The whole nation is opposing NEET, following the steps of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Stalin accused the Union government of indulging in politics on the “Emergency.”
“In the Parliament for politics, the Union Government continuously spoke about the Emergency period. Our question to them, is that the Union government is ready to change the education to State list from concurrent list, where the education was changed to concurrent list during the Emergency period. Can they be able to do this? We are opposing NEET and NEP, which is unnecessary. On one side, we are fighting legal and political battles and on the another side implementing schemes for school and higher education for the welfare of students. We will break the obstacles. Students should focus only on studies. I am repeating Education is an asset which cannot be robbed,” Stalin said. 
Earlier, only government school students were beneficiaries of the ‘Chief Minister Breakfast Scheme’. Today, with this extension, the government has also aided school students to get breakfast in schools.
“Breakfast scheme was introduced with the motto to break the hunger of students who come to the school. Two years before this scheme was introduced, on the birth anniversary of Peraringar Anna, today on Kamarajar’s birthday, this scheme is being extended. More than 2,23,000 students are to have breakfast from Government aided school,” Stalin said.
He further said that the Tamil Nadu governmnet is taking immediate steps to sort out any small issues.
“Does our government become stagnant in any issue? No.. On a daily basis, we are working for the welfare of Tamil people and Tamil Nadu. We are implementing people’s welfare schemes as each one should get benefits. Notably this breakfast scheme brought fame to our Dravidian Model government,” he added.
Earlier on Sunday, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram stressed that the central government needs to give up all-India examinations, adding that the right to conduct examinations for medical college admissions must be reverted back to states.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, P Chidambaram said, “NEET is a scandal and we have been saying this for the last three to four years. Tamil Nadu has passed a resolution in the assembly demanding the exemption of the state from NEET. Each state must have the right to conduct its own entrance examination to select students for the colleges run by the state government. When you have an all-India-level examination, these scandals are bound to happen.”
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the exam, has faced severe criticism, leading to several protests and legal actions. (ANI)
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