Daughter of a labourer, Anitha had scored a high cut-off of 199.75 out of 200 for engineering and 196.75 for medicine
S Anitha, a Dalit girl from Tamil Nadu's Ariyalur district, who had unsuccessfully approached the Supreme Court (SC) to oppose the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission in the MBBS course, was found dead in her home on Friday.
Anitha, who had scored 98 per cent in Class XII exams, was found hanging in her home by her brother on Friday. Police said she took the extreme step while her father and brothers were out for work.
"Neighbours and relatives told us that she was under severe depression after the SC rejected the state's plea against NEET-based admission," a police officer said.
Daughter of a labourer, Anitha had scored a high cut-off of 199.75 out of 200 for engineering and 196.75 for medicine. But she aspired to be a doctor and even rejected offers to join the Madras Institute of Technology for Aeronautical Engineering and Veterinary College and Research Institute at Orathanadu for Bachelor in Veterinary Science. She, however, scored only 86 out of 700 marks in the CBSE-based NEET exam. "I had no idea about the NEET syllabus. I had hoped the admission for the medical course will be based only on Class XII marks as the state government was repeatedly assuring to get exemption from the Centre. When I appeared for NEET, I found the question paper very difficult as most questions were out of the syllabus," she had told a television channel. She had also said that she had no means to take coaching for NEET exam.
Since 2007, Tamil Nadu had been admitting students in the MBBS course solely on the basis of Class XII marks. Though the Central government introduced NEET last year, the Tamil Nadu government had sought an exemption and the Legislative Assembly had passed amendments to continue the existing practice in medical college admissions for this academic year as well.
On August 13, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre would exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET for a year, but the Centre changed its stand in the SC.
Then on August 23, through the example of Tamil Nadu, the SC made it amply clear that all states will have to adhere to the rules regarding the common medical entrance exam. The Apex Court stated that students in Tamil Nadu will have to follow the NEET–based route for counselling and subsequent admission to medical colleges.
Anitha's suicide led to strong criticism from the Opposition parties and educationists against the Edappadi K Palanisami-led government for its indecision on NEET and for giving false hope to state board students. Soon after news of Anitha's death spread, spontaneous protests by students and political activists across the state, including in Chennai, Tiruvarur, and Tiruchi, were reported. Chief Minister Palanisami then announced a financial aid of Rs 7lakh to Anitha's family and urged students to not take extreme steps.
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