LESSON FROM A FIASCO: ON NEET AND T.N. MEDICAL ADMISSIONS
It is a matter of immense(बहुत बड़ा) relief that the prolonged(लम्बा करना) uncertainty over the medical admission process in Tamil Nadu is over. The entire process has been marked by anxiety(चिन्ता/व्याकुलता) for students and parents. That phase has ended, thankfully, but not without lessons for the State government. Unable to introduce legislative(वैधानिक) measures — or get favourable judicial orders — to exempt(मुक्तकरना) the State from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), which the Supreme Court says must be the sole basis for medical admissions across the country, Tamil Nadu has at last released the merit list for MBBS seats based on NEET rankings. The Supreme Court gave a peremptory(आदेशपूर्ण/निर्णयात्मक) direction to the State to complete admissions by September 4 after a volte-face(पक्षपरिवर्तन) by the Centre, which had previously cleared anordinance(नियम) prepared by the State government to grant a year’s exemption(छुटकारा) from NEET for the State. This week the Centre informed the court that it was not in favour of giving “undue(अनुचित/अयोग्य)advantage” to one State. In any case, it was apparent(स्पष्ट/अवास्तविक) that the ordinance would run into a judicial barrier. It was known that the Supreme Court would take a dim view of legislation aimed at giving selective exemption to one State. Last year, when the Centre granted a one-time exemption to the entire country, the Supreme Court had made its displeasure(अप्रसन्नता) obvious. Against this backdrop(पृष्ठभूमि), it may be valid to ask if giving the nod to the ordinance and then making an about-turn(पलटना) were no more than political manoeuvres(कुशलता/पैंतरेबाज़ी/छल करना) on the part of the Centre.The Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed two Bills to exempt the State from NEET permanently and sent them to the Centre for the President’sassent(मंजूरी). When for months the assent did not come, the State government ought to have advised students to get ready for NEET. Closer to the admission season, it came out with a controversial orderearmarking(निर्धारित करना/अनुदान देना) 85% of medical seats for State Board students. Predictably(उम्मीद के मुताबिक/ जाहिर), it was struck down by the courts. Not chastened(अनुशासित करना/विनय करना/दण्ड देना) by judicial setbacks, the State government continued its ineffectual( प्रभावहीन/अशक्त/निष्फल) efforts to get an exemption, possibly because it could not admit its own failure to make the requisite(अपेक्षित/आवश्यक) changes in the school curriculum to make students NEET-ready. There is a flip side to the controversy: whether in the interest of uniform admission norms, an unwilling(अनिच्छुक) State should be forced to adopt a national test prepared on the basis of a syllabus not familiar to a majority of its students, especially rural students. With NEET becoming the sole(एकमात्र/अकेला) admission gate, there may be no scope for an exemption, but the test itself could be made more accessible. The long-term solution for Tamil Nadu lies in upgrading academic standards in its schools. As for the Centre, it could help by drawing up a fresh syllabus standard for NEET after consulting the States, which necessarily have differing school-level standards. Tamil Nadu cannot afford a repeat of this year’sfiasco(असफलता).
1.Anxiety(चिन्ता/व्याकुलता)
Synonyms:- concern, apprehension, apprehensiveness, unease, worry
2.Peremptory(आदेशपूर्ण/निर्णयात्मक)
Synonyms:- autocratic, dominating, magisterial, imperious, abrupt
3.Apparent(स्पष्ट/अवास्तविक)
Synonyms:- evident, manifest, patent, ostensible, seeming
4.Manoeuvres(कुशलता/पैंतरेबाज़ी/छल करना)
Synonyms:- operation, exercise, activity, movement, action
5.Earmarking(निर्धारित करना/अनुदान देना)
Synonyms:- trademark, allow, appropriate, reserve, set aside
6.Chastened(अनुशासित करना/विनय करना/दण्ड देना)
Synonyms:- subdue, castigate, squash, deflate, abase
7.Ineffectual( प्रभावहीन/अशक्त/निष्फल)
Synonyms:- ineffective, unable, futile, otiose, unavailing
