The State government told the Assembly on Friday that it opposed the provision in the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill proposing a common final-year MBBS exam, to be known as National Exit Test (NEXT), for admission to post-graduate medical courses.
In his reply to the issue raised by DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin in the House, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said the State government favoured NEXT only for candidates who completed their undergraduate medical courses in foreign countries.
He said some of the provisions in the Bill went against the federal principles and rights of States. The decision of the Union Cabinet on the NMC Bill, which, among others, proposed NEXT was yet to be communicated to the State government, Dr. Vijayabaskar said and added that the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK were on the same page on the issue.
The Minister recalled the AIADMK MPs’ opposition when the Bill was proposed to be introduced in Parliament in 2016. When the Centre invited inputs from Tamil Nadu on the proposal in 2018, the State government had given its suggestions to the standing committee concerned.