A medical student committed suicide on Wednesday in Chennai, only weeks before the National Eligibility Completion Entrance Test (NEET), the country’s required entrance test for admittance to medical institutions.
P Danush, an 18-year-old auto-kid driver stated in a video message to his parents and younger sister, “I was unable to excel or do anything. My demise is all my fault.” NDTV was unable to independently verify the footage.
An officer looking into the situation said that no suicide note was discovered.
The kid from a tribal hamlet had been accepted into a private medical school the previous year. Still, according to investigators, his family could not pay the tuition or enroll him in private coaching. He was alone preparing to make it to a government medical college this year.
More than 20 medical aspirants, including board toppers, have died by suicide over the last few years in Tamil Nadu after failing to secure adequate marks in NEET for admission to government colleges.
Tamil Nadu vehemently opposes NEET, arguing that the system favors only those who can afford private coaching. The state government claims the test disadvantaged the poor and rural students.
For nearly a decade, the state allowed medical admissions purely based on Class 12 marks.
The state only based medical admissions on Class 12 grades for over ten years.
Based on the recommendations of the Justice AK Rajan Committee, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a bill seeking exemption from the NEET. The Governor transmitted it to the President after an excessively long wait, but the President has not yet taken action. The President rejected a law of a similar nature proposed by the previous AIADMK administration.
At least three other states – Karnataka, West Bengal, and Kerala – have asked for an exemption from the admission test, showing what is perceived as rising sympathy for Tamil Nadu’s position on NEET.
Numerous analysts contend that NEET is just a scheme to guarantee a constant flow of students to private medical institutions, many of which are controlled by politicians collecting exorbitant fees.
It has been asserted that this approach has, however, curbed the formerly common, unregulated admittance procedure based on contributions, while some contend that NEET should only be used for private universities.
