Saralnama
A report by Ezhilan Naganathan, MLA and State Planning Commission member, submitted to Tamil Nadu's High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations, highlights concerns over increasing centralisation in health and medical education sectors. It identifies six key areas where the Union government has overridden State autonomy, including the shift of medical education from the State List to the Concurrent List, the replacement of the Medical Council of India with the National Medical Commission, and the introduction of NEET and NEXT exams. The report criticises NEET for favouring the CBSE/NCERT syllabus and impacting government school students' admissions. It recommends restoring medical education to the State List, abolishing the NMC, and allowing States to control admission and examination systems. The report also raises concerns about centralised organ transplantation management through NOTTO, suggesting a dual-tier system with State-led intra-State allocation and limited Central role in inter-State sharing. Additional issues include centralised drug regulation, conditional Centre-funded health schemes, uniform parameters ignoring State priorities, and cultural centralisation affecting linguistic and regional diversity. The report urges empowering States financially and institutionally to improve health systems while preserving federal balance. (Updated 21 Aug 2025, 18:30 IST; source: link)