The boy, Jagadeeswaran, had graduated from Class XII in 2022 with 427 marks and could not clear the entrance in two attempts. On Saturday, he did not respond to calls from his father and was found dead at home. His father, Selvasekar, was found dead the next morning, the police said, according to agencies.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condoled the deaths and appealed to students “to not entertain suicidal thoughts but to have self-confidence and to live life”. Notably, in 2021, the Tamil Nadu assembly passed a bill seeking exemption from NEET, arguing that it favors affluent students who can afford private coaching and puts students from poor families and rural areas at a disadvantage, even if they score high marks in their Class XII exams.
For nearly a decade prior to this, the state had abolished entrance tests for medical admissions and admitted students to MBBS programs based on their Class XII marks. Governor RN Ravi, who had returned the bill after a long delay, forwarded it to President Droupadi Murmu after the assembly passed it again.
Today, Chief Minister Stalin said, “The NEET wall will crumble in a few months when the political change we aspire to bring about happens.”
A few days ago, Governor Ravi, who had felicitated NEET-qualified candidates, faced an uncomfortable question from a parent of a successful candidate who wanted NEET exemption. The parent said that he had spent several lakhs on his daughter’s coaching and that not all parents could afford it. The Governor retorted, saying the bill is with the President now and he would never sign it.
State Health Minister Ma Subramanian slammed the Governor for “misleading” the state with such statements when he has “no role in this except merely forwarding” it to the President, NDTV reported.
