KOCHI: Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala has accused the Centre of “discriminating” against Malayalam language by not including it among regional languages for holding the NEET for admission in medical colleges for 2017-18.

The senior Congress leader urged the CPI(M)-led LDF government in the state to “urgently” take up the matter with the union government.

“It is unfair. It is an injustice to the people of Kerala,” Chennithala told reporters here when his attention was drawn to the non-inclusion of Malayalam and Kannada among the languages for holding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). “It is a discrimination. Both Malayalam and Kannada should be included,” he said. Noting that a majority of students, who study in government-run educational institutions, are more familiar with their local languages than English, Chennithala said the state government should come forward and appeal to the Centre on the matter. “Omitting Malayalam cannot be justified. The state government should urgently take up the matter with the Centre. It should urge the central government to include Malayalam,” he said. Otherwise, the students from the state will not get adequate representation in the medical courses, he argued. His statement comes a day after his party colleague and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that his government had written to the Centre stating that NEET exams should be held in Kannada also. The Union Health Ministry had on December 21 said that NEET exams for admission in medical colleges will be held in eight languages, Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. — PTI