Shocked by suicides of three National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirants in four days, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is planning to reach out to other non-BJP counterparts for abolishing the national exam for admission to medical courses. Stalin, according to sources in the DMK, is trying to coordinate among non-BJP Chief Ministers to try and abolish the exam.
In a high-level meeting of officials on Thursday, September 16, Stalin said that the DMK government had protested against the NEET but the Union government was "cold-hearted".
Staling said that the DMK had conducted several protests against the implementation of NEET in the state. He has already spoken to West Bengal's CM Mamata Banerjee, Kerala's CM Pinarayi Vijayan, and Maharashtra’s CM Uddhav Thackeray on the issue. Sources in the government told IANS that in the days to come, other non-BJP Chief Ministers including Congress CMs would be contacted.
He called upon the students and parents in the state not to worry regarding NEET and said that every exam must be taken sportingly and failures should not be treated as such a major loss.
He also said that injustice was being meted out to students in the name of NEET and added that it was closing the doors of medical education for many ordinary people. Stalin said that students in rural Tamil Nadu are struggling to clear NEET and added that similar situations will be taking place in other states also.
Stalin, in a video message on Wednesday, said that he was "heartbroken" over the news of the suicide of T Soundharya, a NEET aspirant from Vellore district. He called upon the students to be self-confident and to emerge victorious.
Speaking to IANS, R Padmanabhan of Madurai-based think tank Socio-Economic Development Foundation, said,"Stalin has taken a bold step to reach out to other non-BJP Chief Ministers. This will give him good acceptability among the general public of the state and he has used the opportunity to catapult himself to the national stage."