Two DMK MPs on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, called on Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President and IT and Industries Minister K Taraka Rama Rao at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad, seeking the support of the TRS party for cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) this year.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin recently wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with a request to cancel the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2021, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation across the country. The MPs alleged that the Central government was not eliciting the views of the state governments on crucial issues concerning NEET.

Urging the Centre to postpone NEET, Stalin also wrote letters to all the Chief Ministers on the same issue. On Wednesday, DMK MPs TKS Elangovan and Kalanidhi Veeraswamy met Rama Rao and sought his support for the same. The DMK government had introduced a bill canceling NEET in Tamil Nadu after multiple suicides in the state were attributed to pressures that students were facing because of the national-level exam. Stalin has also claimed that the exam is unfair as students from underprivileged backgrounds will find it tough to crack the exam without coaching, which they often cannot afford.

The DMK MPs told media persons later that they were opposing the Centre’s decision to conduct NEET this year. The MPs alleged that the Central government was not eliciting the views of the State governments on crucial issues concerning NEET. TRS MP Gaddam Ranjith Reddy was also present when the MPs met Rama Rao.