NEET 2017: Central government agrees to grant exemption to Tamil Nadu students

The Central government has decided to grant an exemption to Tamil Nadu students from NEET 2017. Tamil Nadu has been demanding this for a long time, now politicians have finally come to an end with this decision of the Centre. Around 4000 seats are available in government colleges, including those surrendered by the private medical colleges. 'If the state government promulgate an ordinance asking for the exception for NEET this year, the Centre is ready to agree with that demand,' said Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

'Based on our interaction with the State, there is a difficulty for rural students in getting admission,' she further added. This exemption is sought to help rural students to get admission in government colleges. 90% students in Tamil Nadu comes from the State Board, which makes it difficult for them to qualify the NEET as that is based on CBSE syllabus.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister, C Vijayabaskar will submit the Ordinance to exempt the State from NEET for 1 year.

Earlier this month, the Health Minister had met the Prime Minister along with Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai requested for an NEET-exemption.Tamil Nadu had ended the practice of entrance examinations and granted admission to medical courses on the basis of the marks obtained by students in class 12.

This decision was taken to help students from rural backgrounds who can't afford coaching classes fees to prepare for entrance exams. This decision will bring relief to students in the State especially for those who belong to rural areas of the state.