The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) that is conducted all over the country for admissions to MBBS and allied courses has become the reason for a few student suicides in Tamil Nadu, says a report on IANS.
Ever since this examination was introduced in the country, Tamil Nadu has shown objection to it and students have been protesting against this implementation.
The protest became more violent when a Dalit student, Anitha, committed suicide in 2017 after she failed to qualify in the NEET, although she was able to score well in her Class XII examination. This suicide case turned into a major political issue and the matter in question of whether the state required NEET or it could revert back to the old system of admission to medical colleges through Class XII marks and the marks secured in the qualifying examination came up.
Since the issue in 2017, the number of Class XII students who have taken their lives after failing to qualify for the NEET examinations has increased. According to the data available with the state crime records bureau, the majority of students who have committed suicide were medical aspirants and failed to qualify for the NEET examination even after the second or the third attempt.
The year 2020 also saw two students committing suicide in the state and the year 2021 led to the death of twelve students.
The Tamil Nadu government moved a bill in the state legislative assembly against NEET and the assembly passed the bill unanimously that the state does not want NEET for admission to MBBS and allied courses.
In 2022, when the NEET results came out, a 19-year-old girl, Lakshmana Swetha from Tirumullavayal in Chennai died by suicide after she failed to clear the NEET.
The Tamil Nadu government has set up a counselling centre for NEET aspirants and even before the results are out, counsellors speak to the students who have taken the exam.
