7.5% quota is my brainchild, says Edappadi Palaniswami

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami mentioned on Thursday that the 7.5% horizontal reservation in medical schools for NEET-qualified authorities college college students was his brainchild, and nobody proposed it.

Speaking at an occasion at Vanavasi in Salem, he traced the historical past of the NEET, which was mooted when the UPA was in energy on the Centre, and mentioned the AIADMK authorities opposed it legally. But it was pressured to undertake it following the Supreme Court’s order.

The plight of the poor

“I thought about the plight of poor children, and of the ways to help them. That is when I got the idea of internal reservation, and we introduced 7.5% reservation,” he mentioned. “No Opposition leader or parties or public had made such a request,” he mentioned. Thanks to the reservation, in Salem alone 21 college students had joined medical programs, and the twenty first candidate joined with a NEET rating of 211.

Overall, 313 authorities college college students certified for medical admissions this yr, as in opposition to six candidates final yr. He mentioned the State created historical past by opening 11 medical schools, including 1,650 MBBS seats. Now the State has 3,600 seats.

Even the gross enrolment ratio in Tamil Nadu was the very best within the nation, rising from the 32% beneath the previous Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. The State additionally fared properly in different spheres, successful a number of nationwide awards, the newest one being for water administration.

He accused Leader of the Opposition and DMK president M.K. Stalin of spreading false information about Ministers. “He should instead offer constructive suggestions, through which he could at least try and retain his place in the Opposition [after the 2021 Assembly election],” Mr. Palaniswami mentioned.

‘Statement hero’

The Chief Minister mentioned Mr. Stalin would find yourself being a “statement hero” as a result of day by day he was issuing statements in opposition to the federal government. He mentioned public welfare was not promoted when the DMK was in energy. The AIADMK authorities alone was working for the welfare of the folks.

As for the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Palaniswami mentioned he had toured all however 4 districts to conduct evaluation conferences with the district administration, and well being and income officers. “Thanks to this, the spread of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu has been contained and positivity rate is coming down,” he mentioned.

He laid the muse for a number of tasks and inaugurated accomplished works on an funding of ₹291.94 crore. He opened the work to desilt lakes and construct two check-dams at a price of ₹44.43 crore beneath the Mettur surplus water scheme. Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited was reopened for operations, and this benefited 534 individuals straight and a couple of,000 individuals not directly.