PMK joins opposition in decrying eligibility test, Tamilisai defends it

Former union health minister and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said that there is no reason to justify the NEET. The Centre should come forward to rescind the exam and pave the way for social justice rather than being stubborn affecting the students aspiring for medicine.

MDMK leader Vaiko blamed the Centre for the recent NEET suicides in TN. The national eligibility test has turned in to the death trap for aspiring state students and said he was worried over the alarming suicides. The victims were either children of poor labourers or belonged to the middle class unable to spend money for the NEET coaching classes. The Centre, by making the exam compulsory, has made the dream of studying medicine unimaginable to those who hail from poor book ground, Vaiko alleged.

Congress leader Su Thirunavukkarasar said that the Congress party will take up the issue in Parliament seeking scrapping of NEET. Dravidar Kazhagam chief K Veeramani termed the NEET as a great social injustice to rural students and alleged that the NEET coaching centres were looting the parents.

Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary TTV Dhinakaran also blamed the Centre and the state for the death of Monisha, who committed suicide after failing to clear the NEET.

Condoling the death, Dhinakaran said Monisha was the daughter of his party’s Marakkanam union fishermen wing secretary Mohan. The entrance exams had shattered the dreams of the rural students to pursue medicine and the Centre should scarp the NEET without further delay, he noted.

CPM leader K Balakrishnan and Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman also warned massive protests condemning the NEET. The Left leader urged the students and the political parties to come forward and protest against implementation of the NEET. Such a measure alone will help secure the right to get exemption from the entrance test, he added.

However, BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan opined that the state students have started performing better. Students have started excelling in NEET thwarting the campaign put forth by political parties. The results are encouraging with a ten per cent increase in pass percentage. Rather than encouraging students, politicians are opposing NEET for political mileage, she said.

Film director Pa Ranjith, Gauthaman also termed the NEET as the cause of suicides among the aspiring medical students in Tamil Nadu.