The Bill to exempt students from Tamil Nadu from taking the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test has been sent for president’s assent, Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Wednesday, according to The Hindu.

National Entrance cum Eligibility Test, or NEET, is a requisite for admission to undergraduate medical courses in India.

Stalin described the development as a historic one and said that all parties in the state Assembly should make efforts to ensure that President Ram Nath Kovind approves the Bill.

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Governor RN Ravi has forwarded the Bill to the Union Home Ministry, which will send it to the president, the chief minister said.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed the Bill on February 8 for the second time.

The first Bill seeking to exempt students from NEET in Tamil Nadu was passed in September. It had proposed that admission of students to medical courses be carried out based on Class 12 examination results.

However, Ravi returned the Bill for the Assembly’s reconsideration on February 1, contending that it was against the interest of students from rural areas and those who are economically weaker.

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On Wednesday, Stalin told the Assembly that after the second Bill was passed, he had met the governor and urged him to send it to the Centre without delay, according to The Hindu. The chief minister said he had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the matter.

Tamil Nadu government’s objections on NEET

The question paper of NEET is based on the Central Board of Secondary Education syllabus, which is different from the Tamil Nadu state board’s academic curriculum. Tamil Nadu has been opposing the examination on the grounds that a common entrance test would harm the prospects of state board students.

In September, three NEET aspirants had died by suicide in the state, leading to massive outrage.