DMK's MK Stalin wants ban on NEET, says test has taken many lives

MK Stalin

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin, who had recently appeared in public wearing a ‘Ban NEET, Save TN Students’ mask, wants the medical entrance exams scrapped.

Dubbing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) a guillotine that has taken many lives, Stalin said the entrance exams are an “unnecessary eligibility test” that has trampled upon many dreams, reported News18.

He added: “In 2007, during the rule of Thalaivar Kalaignar, the Public Entrance Test was abolished and students were able to participate in the counselling sessions of engineering and medical universities based on their Class 12 marks in a transparent, single window system. Many became engineers and doctors over the next 10 years because of that. The aspirations of children from suburban and rural neighbourhoods and of those from oppressed communities were realised. However, from Ariyalur Anitha (who took her own life in August 2017) to Jothi Sridurga (who died on September 12, 2020), NEET has become a guillotine that has taken away so many lives.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been alleging that the DMK and other opposition parties are opposed to the NEET exams because it acts as an impediment to the vested interests of several politicians and businessmen. Stalin, however, believes this is a diversion technique to shift focus from the main issue.

He added that thousands of coaching centres charging exorbitant rates to give tuitions have mushroomed in the name of NEET. The fees at such coaching classes often run in lakhs, the DMK leader said, accusing the BJP of paving the way for such a scenario. He also blamed the ruling party for bolstering the false belief that such training is necessary to crack the medical entrance exams. Stalin further alleged that several malpractices in exam procedures among other irregularities that are facilitated by the NEET coaching centres have been exposed over the years.

Justifying the DMK stance on NEET, he pointed out that the proportion of rural students cracking the exams and getting admitted to government-run medical colleges has also been declining and hence “NEET is a fundamentally bad kill-loot scheme.”