In a rare move, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday issued an executive order granting 7.5% horizontal reservation for NEET-qualified students of State government schools in undergraduate medical admissions, though a Bill on the quota is pending before Governor Banwarilal Purohit for assent.
The Bill was passed in the Legislative Assembly on September 15. Recently, Mr. Purohit informed Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin that he would need three to four weeks time to decide on it and that he had conveyed the same to a group of Ministers who met him to press for his assent to the Bill.
Faced with mounting political pressure from the Opposition and a race against time to ensure that undergraduate medical admissions take place, the State government noted that under Article 162, executive power is coextensive with legislative power, pending a decision of the Governor.
Political parties in the State have also been publicly mounting pressure on the Governor on the issue.
On Thursday, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court too said that it hoped that the Governor would come to a decision at the earliest.
The Supreme Court has held in the past that reservation can be provided through executive order and that seems to have bolstered the State government’s case for issuing the G.O.
Citing the Advocate General’s opinion, the State said in the G.O. that the Government quota was not violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.
“Since the NEET- under graduate results have now been declared and the admissions process has started, there is an urgency to decide on the issue,” the G.O. said. In fact, the State had informed the High Court earlier this month that the prospectus for admissions will not be issued till a decision is taken by the Governor on the Bill.
Through the G.O., the Government has decided to set apart 7.5% on preferential basis to students who have studied from 6th to 12th standard in State government schools in admissions and have qualified in NEET to MBBS, BDS, BSMS, BAMS, BUMS and BHMS courses. This setting apart of seats will be done under the State quota seats in all Government medical, dental colleges and all courses for which NEET has been prescribed as an eligibility criteria.
“The above horizontal reservation shall be provided in each category of vertical reservation followed in the State of Tamil Nadu within the 69% reservation from the academic year 2020-2021,” the G.O. said.
An official in the Directorate of Medical Education said, “The government’s position is that it will implement the reservation for government school students from the current year itself."
(With inputs from R Sujatha)
