Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin tables Bill against NEET in assembly as student’s suicide sparks political row

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on September 13, tabled a Bill in the Assembly seeking permanent exemption for the state from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

The move comes a day after a 19-year-old student died by suicide in the state’s Salem district, hours before he was scheduled to appear for NEET, an all-India pre-medical entrance test for students who wish to pursue undergraduate medical and dental courses.

"NEET is not an equitable method of admission", the statement of objects and reasons of bill says, according to legal news website livelaw.in

READ: Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin opposes National Monetisation Pipeline

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), however, staged a walkout from the Assembly, with its leader and former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami saying that his party leaders were not provided an opportunity to discuss the student's suicide.

“Students and their parents were totally confused over the conduction of NEET exam here. There is no clear stand taken by the DMK government on NEET. Yesterday, a student, S Dhanush committed suicide. DMK is responsible for it,” Palaniswami, who hails from Salem, told reporters.

Dhanush, a student from Koolaayur in Salem district, police said, took the extreme step ‘apprehensive about taking the exam’ held across the country on September 12

Also, read NEET: Another medical aspirant dies by suicide in Tamil Nadu

The student’s death turned into a political storm in the state with the opposition blaming the ruling DMK government. The ruling government and its allies in turn have blamed the Centre

In the Assembly, Stalin urged the opposition parties to extend their support to the Bill. “You (AIADMK) were in alliance with Centre, you still are. When it came to voting for CAA and farm laws, you should've imposed condition of exemption from NEET. You didn't have courage to raise voice, you ruled in silence until death of aspirants,” the CM said, according to news agency ANI.

Tamil Nadu | We are against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), we don't want NEET. We want our students to be given a fair chance & equal opportunity. This is against social justice: Kanimozhi, DMK MP in Chennai pic.twitter.com/nFaEeGLeJA

— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2021

This is the second time that the Tamil Nadu Assembly introduced a Bill seeking exemption from NEET. The President did not give his assent to legislation passed by the previous AIADMK government in 2017.

On September 12 after the aspirant death, Stalin had assured students that he will bring a Bill seeking the President’s assent to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET. The Centre does not understand the huge difficulties caused by NEET to students and its 'negligence' and 'obstinacy' continues to be responsible for the death of students by suicide, Stalin alleged.

Since NEET was introduced in Tamil Nadu in 2017, more than a dozen medical aspirants have died by suicide either due to fear of failing or having failed in the exam, according to reports

State BJP president K Annamalai said that the DMK should stop playing with students’ lives when the Supreme Court has made the exam mandatory.

“Students’ lives are being lost for politics,” he said. The BJP is the only party in the state that supports NEET.

The tragic suicide of a NEET appearing student Danush in Salem today is heart breaking. This Exam has passed Hon SC scrutiny & in 2020 had seen the highest no of Tamil students passing. @arivalayam which is playing politics with NEET is directly responsible for his death.

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) September 12, 2021

NEET issue in Tamil Nadu

Until 2017, Tamil Nadu considered class 12th marks for admissions to medical colleges. But after a Supreme Court ruling in 2017, NEET  became mandatory in Tamil Nadu which had availed an exemption successfully until then. Since then, the state has tried to be exempted from the exam through an ordinance, court cases and negotiations with the Union government, but to no avail.

With one in eight doctors in India from Tamil Nadu, the state has one of the highest medical aspirants in the country, according to data from the Medical Council of India provided by former Union health minister Harsh Vardhan in the parliament in 2019.

The agitation against NEET is said to have originated from the economically weaker aspirants in state’s hinterlands who have to compete with affluent students of urban areas. The resistance escalated in September 2017 when S Anitha, a Dalit aspirant, died by suicide after failing in triggering protests across Tamil Nadu. On August 22, 2017, the Supreme Court refused to give Tamil Nadu an exemption from NEET, Anitha was one of the respondents in the case.

The political parties have been wary of the anti-NEET protests. Last year, the AIADMK government introduced a 7.5 percent reservation in medical colleges for government school students who clear NEET. The government had also passed an ordinance against NEET in the state assembly in 2017 but the President did not give his assent.