No change in opposition to entrance tests: TN

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday sought to clarify that it was fully opposed to the Medical Council of India's proposal to conduct common entrance tests (CET) for under-graduate and post-graduate medical courses across the country.

The reiteration of its earlier stand comes in the wake of Opposition leader J Jayalalithaa lashing out at the state government for allegedly playing double game on the issue opposing the CET in the Supreme Court, but doing nothing to persuade the Union government to scrap the CET proposal. Jayalalithaa, quoting the central government's submission before the apex court last week, said the Centre was all set to notify CET for PG courses. It would go against the principle of social justice in Tamil Nadu, she had pointed out, adding that the DMK was incapable of protecting the rights of the state.

The state government, in the statement, said the Union health minister, in a letter sent to the Tamil Nadu chief minister recently, had assured that no decision would be taken on CET without consulting all state governments. The state government would not surrender its rights to the MCI or the central government, the statement added.