Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make Tamil an official language, on par with Hindi, as the two shared stage at an event in Chennai to launch a slew of infrastructure projects.
Mr Stalin also called for exempting Tamil Nadu from the national medical entrance test NEET after a bill was passed recently in the state assembly.
"Make Tamil the official language like Hindi and the official language in Madras High Court," said the Chief Minister.
The DMK, which came to power in Tamil Nadu last year, has long demanded "official and administrative" language status for Tamil.
Tamil was given the "classical language" status when the Congress-led UPA was in power.
Addressing the event, PM Modi described the Tamil language as "eternal".
Mr Stalin also pitched for the Centre to acknowledge the bill passed by the Tamil Nadu assembly to exempt the state from the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET).
The bill has not yet been forwarded to the Centre by Governor RN Ravi. Mr Stalin has said that the state does not need him to approve the Bill but to send it for Presidential assent "like a postman".
The Governor had earlier returned the bill after nearly 200 days. The Tamil Nadu assembly had unanimously adopted the bill again and sent it to him, hoping he would forward it to the Centre.
Tamil Nadu opposes the medical entrance exam NEET as it argues that it favours those who can afford private coaching and denies the opportunity to the poor students and those who live in villages.
For nearly a decade, the state government has admitted medical students on basis of their Class 12 marks.
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