Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered a point-by-point rebuttal to Perambalur DMK MP Arun Nehru’s maiden speech in Parliament, where he falsely claimed that the NEET exam fosters inequality and was disadvantageous to the economically underprivileged.
Sitharaman pointed out that the NEET exam was introduced by the Congress-led UPA government, with the DMK as a coalition partner, and was defended by the then Additional Solicitor General. She emphasised that the DMK was part of the government that initiated NEET.
During the debate on Budget 2024 in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated, “NEET was notified in December 2010. It was led by the then DMK Minister Gandhi Selvan, who served as MoS for Health and Family Welfare as part of the Congress-led UPA II Government. In 2012, the UPA 2.0 introduced NEET (Undergraduate) for medical admissions. And in 2013, the first exam took place. The then ASG had defended NEET and said that “the earlier system of multiple examinations was neither in the national interest nor in the interest of maintaining the standards of medical education, nor did it serve the interest of poor/middle-class students who had to buy forms of several examinations and travel across the country to appear in multiple examinations”.
Sitharaman asserted, “NEET doesn’t disadvantage anyone; in fact, it expands opportunities. Tamil Nadu students secure 85% of seats with 69% reservation upheld & can also go 15% seats in other states also. They benefit from the All-India Quota. In 2011, when the DMK rule concluded in Tamil Nadu, it had just 1945 medical seats. Presently, there are 10,425 medical seats, a remarkable surge of 8480 seats over the past 11 years.”
She further added, “NEET has ensured cost-effective medical education for families. It has hurt vested private interests, particularly those in the medical education field because no longer ‘selling’ of medical seats is possible, therefore it has hurt the lot of people, that’s why a particular lobby was against NEET, even before the NEET leak issue has come up. In the year 2022-23, 12,997 Tamil Nadu Government School Students wrote the NEET exam. Out of them 3982 students passed. It is noteworthy that the pass percentage has increased from 27% last year to 31%. Before NEET came in, only students from few schools from a selected regions of Tamil Nadu could get medical seats but now it’s across the board.”
The FM pointed out that government school students from humble backgrounds have successfully cleared the NEET exam. She listed several examples:
- Kanimozhi from Mayiladuthurai, daughter of a coolie and taxi driver.
- Annapurani from Singampunari, Sivaganga district, daughter of a construction worker.
- Arivunidhi from Vilali Malai, Pudukottai district, son of a laborer and coolie.
- Divya Bharathi from Thalavaadi, Erode district, daughter of a laborer.
- Kaviyarasan from Karambakudi, Pudukottai district, son of a farm laborer.
- Jeevith Kumar from Periyakuma, Theni district, son of a goat rearer.
- Kavipriya from Cheyyar, daughter of a farmer.
- Santhanam from a farming labor background.
- Ramya from Karamadai, an Irula community member, daughter of a laborer.
Outcome of Highways more accidents…
Only Dstocks can produce such intelligent people. pic.twitter.com/ywcoxbc3Wn— Vishwatma 🇮🇳 ( மோடியின் குடும்பம் ) (@HLKodo) August 6, 2024
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