NEET against social justice, equality, says DMK chief MK Stalin

Seeking the NEET’s scrapping, DMK president M K Stalin Friday alleged that the test was against social justice and equality and claimed it was destroying the medical education dreams of students. The DMK reaffirming its demand for scrapping it comes in the wake of three girls committing suicide allegedly over failing to clear the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, which has led to an outrage across the state.

"NEET, which is destroying students’ medical dreams and creates inequality, should be scrapped without further delay," Stalin said in a statement.

The NEET was against social justice and equality, Stalin said and wanted Education to be moved to the State list. Earlier too, some women students, including S Anitha of Ariyalur in 2017, had ended their lives after failing in NEET.

"The NEET results this year prove that it creates severe mental stress for the students and their parents and has become a weapon that is destroying social justice," he said.

Stalin, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, said though there has been an increase in the number of medical aspirants clearing NEET this time, there was no satisfactory response on how many of them will get seats in government medical colleges. He claimed more candidates from the forward class passed the exam, compared to those from others, especially the poor and oppressed.

Further, more students from the CBSE background had cracked NEET even as there has been a dip in their counterparts from state board passing the exam, he claimed. "This is creating a situation of inequality after 70 years of independence," he said.

Students belonging to rural areas, poor and oppressed families study in government colleges and their medical dreams have been shattered by NEET, leading to suicides of medical aspirants over the years, he alleged.

Even some developed countries had done away with certain entrance tests after it was discovered that students from poorer sections could not enter major universities due to such tests, he claimed.

Stalin, who recalled the DMK government doing away with entrance tests for professional courses in 2007 benefiting large number of students, demanded that Education be moved to the state list. He also slammed Centre’s “undue haste” in implementing the 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), saying it would increase social inequality.

"Therefore, it is the duty of the government to take legal steps to scrap NEET and create an atmosphere where such a test does not exist," he said.

The DMK will continue to express support for this issue, including in Parliament, Stalin asserted. Three girls--- one each from Tirupur, Coimbatore and Villupuram districts—had committed suicide earlier this week, allegedly over failing to clear NEET.