CHENNAI: Manirathnam, brother of S Anitha, the Tamil Nadu student who died by suicide in 2017 after failing to secure a medical seat under the NEET-based admission system, has joined the ongoing protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Delhi against the medical entrance exam.
Speaking to the media during the protest, he recalled Anitha's struggle against NEET and said Tamil Nadu had been opposing the examination since it was introduced across the country in 2017.
According to him, Anitha had not prepared for NEET as she had been preparing for admission based on her Class 12 board examination marks. He said she scored 1,176 out of 1,200 marks and was academically eligible to pursue a medical course under the admission system followed in Tamil Nadu at the time.
However, after NEET was introduced, medical admissions were based on NEET scores, and Anitha could not secure a medical seat through the new system, he said.
He recalled that Anitha had protested against NEET and approached political leaders, arguing that the examination was unfair to students and that there was no equal education system across the country. He also said she had approached the Supreme Court against NEET but did not receive the justice she had sought.
He said Anitha's death triggered widespread protests across Tamil Nadu, with people demanding justice for her and opposing NEET.
"NEET is unfair to State Board students, people from rural areas and economically weaker sections," he said, adding that political parties in Tamil Nadu had continued to oppose the examination.
He demanded that NEET be abolished and said Tamil Nadu should be granted an exemption from the examination.
"We need to ban and abolish NEET," he said.