Keep TN out of medical CET, says Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: Strongly protesting the Centre’s move to conduct an All India Common Entrance Test for admission to medical colleges, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to exempt Tamil Nadu from the proposed examination.Jayalalithaa reasoned that the move would affect students on many counts, particularly the unique reservation system and other policy initiatives being followed in Tamil Nadu.Observing that the State had abolished the Common Entrance Test (CET) for me-dical courses from the year 2007-08 , Jayalalithaa accused the Centre of failing to consult the State before taking a policy decision, despite a promise in this regard by the Union Health Ministry.The CET was done away with in TN after due deliberations and after obtaining the views of an expert committee, she added.Tamil Nadu had contended that a national-level CET would interfere with the rights of the State in administering the education system, she observed.The Chief Minister, in her letter to the PM on July 30, said that the CET was abolished as rural students and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds were unable to compete with the urban elite students in such exams as they lacked the requisite training institutions and material.Further, poor rural students could not afford the fees charged by the coaching centres, which impart training to face competitive exams. “This will be particularly true in the case of a national-level examination as  students who pass Class XII based on our syllabi will not face a level-playing field as the topics covered for the entrance exam are likely to be different, leading to the need for separate training classes,” she said.Highlighting the benefits of abolishing the CET for professional courses, Jayalalithaa reasoned that a large number of socially and economically backward meritorious rural students had benefited from this. TN was able to manage its medical manpower requirement in  rural areas due to the large number of rural students who were admitted to UG courses in government medical colleges thanks to the existing admission policy, she added.She stated that as part of its policy of upholding social justice, TN had been following 69 per cent reservation for backward and most backward communities and scheduled castes and tribes in professional courses. As such, introduction of CET would create confusion in the smooth implementation of this reservation policy.Further, the State has reserved 50 per cent of its medical post-graduate seats for doctors who have completed three years of rural service with special weightage for those working in hilly and tribal areas. Jayalalithaa said the government had also successfully obtained and enforced bonds from those completing post graduate education in government medical colleges to serve the State for a minimum period. This had helped to meet the need for specialised medical manpower, she added.“It will be difficult to implement these policy initiatives if a CET is introduced as we would have to fall in line with the regulations of the national test, which may not have such enabling provisions,” said Jayalalithaa .