Tamil Nadu Guv clears 7.5% NEET quota Bill

Chennai, October 30

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has assented to a Bill envisaging 7.5 per cent reservation to government school students who have cleared the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test in admission to undergraduate medical courses.

A day after the state government took the executive route to implement the quota regime from the current 2020-21 academic year itself and issued a government order to facilitate it, the Raj Bhavan said “this is to inform the people of Tamil Nadu that the honourable Governor has given his assent to the Bill.”

“As soon as the opinion was received, honourable Governor has given assent to the Bill,” the statement said.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami said efforts were afoot to implement the reservation from the current year. DMK president MK Stalin claimed Purohit gave his assent to the quota Bill as he was left with no other choice and thanked him for his approval.

He said his party’s protest and the hope expressed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court were behind Purohit’s “change of heart”.

In a twitter post, Stalin said the approval came after 45 days and when the time for medical counselling was nearing. Hearing a batch of public interest litigation petitions, a division bench had on Thursday hoped that the Governor would take a decision at the earliest.

BJP’s Khushbu Sundar said, “We deliver what we promise.”

PMK chief S Ramadoss said Purohit’s consent was the victory of the people.

The Raj Bhavan said Purohit sought to know if the proposed quota was in accordance with the Constitution and compatible with Articles 14 (Equality) and 15 (prohibition of discrimination).

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said “intelligible differentia” would enable reservation for socially and educationally backward class.

The Bill is in “consonance with the Constitution of India”, Mehta noted, adding it was, however, subject to judicial review and also to other constitutional principles like those related to the upper limit to reserved seats.

The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Courses in Medicine, Dentistry, Indian Medicine and Homeopathy on preferential basis to students of Government Schools Bill 2020, was passed on September 15 in the Assembly and sent to Purohit for his approval.

The ruling AIADMK sought expeditious clearance of the Bill since the quota should be implemented from the current year and a group of ministers too had called on Purohit at the Raj Bhavan recently. PTI