Puducherry students stage demo against NEET

Raising slogans against the Centre and the Puducherry government, students claimed that NEET-based system of selection should be done away with. The protesters also sought justice for the death of Dalit medical aspirant Anitha, who allegedly hanged herself at her house in Ariyalur district on September 1 as she became depressed over not getting an MBBS seat.

Anitha was reportedly upset after it became known that Tamil Nadu will not be exempted from the ambit of National Entrance- cum-Eligibility Test (NEET). She had earlier moved the Supreme Court against NEET.

Around 40 volunteers of Puducherry unit of Naam Tamizhar Katchi who staged a sit-in protest at the Head Post office were taken into custody.

Students of government-run and private professional colleges and polytechnics gathered at the Pattanikadai junction and took out a procession to the Head Post office covering a distance of more than 2 km. The territorial government had admitted students to the medical courses during the 2017-2018 academic year based on the merits the students had scored in the NEET test. There are seven private medical colleges and one run by the Puducherry government.