Tamil Nadu’s prolonged fight to exempt the state from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has hit a major roadblock. President Droupadi Murmu has rejected a key bill passed by the state legislature, which sought to admit students to medical colleges based on Class XII marks instead of the nationwide NEET examination.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin informed the Tamil Nadu Assembly of the setback on Friday. The bill, passed twice by the Assembly in 2021 and 2022, had been awaiting assent from the Union government. In June 2023, the Assembly also unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to abolish NEET and allow states to set their own criteria for medical admissions.

Reacting sharply to the rejection, Stalin said Tamil Nadu had been “insulted” by the decision and described it as a "black phase in federalism." The Chief Minister has often clashed with the BJP-led central government on various issues, including the contentious delimitation exercise and the imposition of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states.

The DMK government has long argued that NEET is discriminatory and puts students from rural and economically weaker backgrounds at a disadvantage, especially those from the state board syllabus.

“We passed the bill twice, reflecting the will of the people of Tamil Nadu. Rejecting it is not just an insult to the state but a blow to cooperative federalism,” Stalin said, calling for unity among southern states to resist what he called unilateral decision-making by the Centre.

The President’s decision comes at a politically sensitive time, with general elections looming next year. The rejection is expected to intensify the ongoing debate on federal rights and state autonomy, especially in education policy.

With this, Tamil Nadu’s efforts to move away from NEET appear stalled, unless a fresh strategy is drawn up or the matter is taken to the Supreme Court.