Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay urged central support for a Chennai-Kanniyakumari high-speed rail corridor and permission to base state-quota medical admissions on Class 12 marks during the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting.
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay made the requests in his first address to the 11th meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 12.
He asked the Centre to back the high-speed rail link between Chennai and Kanniyakumari along with projects including six-laning of NH-32, a space manufacturing hub at Kulasekarapattinam, BharatNet Phase-II rollout, Hogenakkal Phase-III water supply, and the Youth Skill and Employment Mission.
On medical admissions, Vijay stated that Tamil Nadu opposes NEET because it has affected students from rural and socio-economically disadvantaged families. He requested that all state-quota seats in MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH courses be filled solely on Class 12 marks.
Vijay also sought central funds for start-up incubators, a venture capital ecosystem for deep-tech firms, and applied research, plus release of pending central assistance to the state.
