The stand-off between Governor RN Ravi and THE Tamil Nadu Government has deteriorated to almost a point of no return with the former sending back to the Legislative Assembly the Bill enacted by the DMK Government scrapping the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses in the State, according to seasoned political observers.
The DMK’s mouthpiece Murasoli has been waging a war against the Governor lampooning and ridiculing him and this has played a significant role in the worsening of the ties between Raj Bhavan and Fort Saint George (Tamil Nadu’s seat of power).
“Though the NEET was introduced by the UPA Government during the tenure of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, the DMK and its leaders kept quiet at that time”, pointed out Kolahala Srenivasan, political commentator and writer based in Chennai. He said that it was a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court which ordered NEET should be the screening test for admission to all undergraduate medical courses in the country. “Is it possible for the Governor or the President to negate the apex court verdict,” asked Srenivasan.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister M K Stalin while addressing rallies across the State on Monday claimed that it was BJP which imposed the NEET across the country. “Education has been denied to people for centuries. They have had access to education in the last few decades as a result of many struggles. NEET is a new version of the conspiracy to deny education to people because of their status. We will resend the Bill back to the Governor,” said Stalin on the eve of the special session of the Assembly which has been convened to send the Bill again to the Governor.
Constitutional experts are of the view that Tamil Nadu Government would not get any breakthrough when it sends the Bill back to the Governor. “ The Governor has no pocket veto (power to approve or disapprove) the Bill. He can reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President or sit over it further for a long period,” Dr Sonia K Das, constitutional expert who heads the Department of Constitutional Studies in Government Law College, Thrissur, told The Pioneer.
According to Dr Das, the Governor can also reserve the Billif it is of following nature: 1) If the Bill is against the provisions of the Constitution. 2) If the Bill is opposed to the Directive Principles of State Policy. 3) If the Bill is against the larger interest of the country. 4) if the Bill is of grave national importance and 5) if it deals with compulsory acquisition of property. “Unlike the President, the Governor of a State does not enjoy pocket veto. The Governor neither ratifies nor rejects or returns the Bill, but simply keeps the Bill pending for an indefinite period,” said Prof Das.
Governor Ravi had said in the Republic Day Message to the people of the State that before the introduction of NEET, the share of students from Government run schools in the seats at Government Medical Colleges was hardly one percent. “ Thanks to the affirmative action of 7.5 per cent reservation for NEET qualified Government school students, the number has improved significantly”, he had said. The Governor had further opined that there was an urgent need to improve the quality of education at the Government schools in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu is the only State which has been demanding the scrapping of NEET while the remaining States have welcomed the move.