The teenager was worried that she would not clear the NEET exam.
Chennai:
A 17-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide in Tamil Nadu today in her third death related to the medical entrance exam NEET in four days.
The daughter of a daily wage laborer had appeared for NEET 2021 or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission to undergraduate medical courses and was worried that she would not clear it. He had secured 84.9 percent marks in class 12th.
Just yesterday, another 17-year-old student had committed suicide after taking NEET on Monday. This, passed a day after the state government exempted the state from NEET and allowed admission to medical colleges in Tamil Nadu on the basis of class 12 marks.
A 19-year-old youth died of suicide hours before the exam on Sunday.
The young man Dhanush was the son of an agricultural labourer. He had failed to clear NEET in his last two attempts.
Chief Minister MK Stalin has appealed to the students not to lose hope and assured that his government will continue the legal struggle against NEET in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu has long opposed NEET and demanded that the state be allowed to conduct its own medical entrance examination. The state argues that NEET favors the rich as poor students are unable to afford private coaching in rural areas. Over the years, 15 medical aspirants have died by suicide in the state.
Retired Justice AK Rajan, who studied the impact of NEET and coaching centers in medical admissions, had recommended scrapping of the national entrance exam, saying it hurts the prospects of local and poor students.
NEET was introduced during the UPA regime when DMK was a part of it. Then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Karunanidhi – MK Stalin’s father – had managed to get the President’s nod for exemption from NEET for the state. But the AIADMK government, which took power, could not get such an exemption from its ally BJP. The Supreme Court had also ruled that NEET would continue.
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