Chennai: Shocked by suicides of three NEET aspirants in four days, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is planning to reach out to other non-BJP counterparts for abolishing the national exam for admission to medical courses.
Stalin, according to sources in the DMK, is trying to bring up coordination among non-BJP Chief Ministers to try and abolish the exam.
In a high-level meeting of officials on Thursday, Stalin said that the DMK government had protested against the NEET but the Union government was "cold-hearted".
He said that the DMK had conducted several protests against the implementation of NEET in the state.
Stalin has already spoken with West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, and Maharastra's Uddhav Thackeray on the issue.
Sources in the government told IANS that in the days to come, other non-BJP Chief Ministers, including Congress Chief Ministers, would be contacted.
Stalin called upon the students and parents in the state not to worry regarding the NEET and said that every exam must be taken sportingly and failures should not be treated as such a major loss.
He also said that injustice was being meted out to students in the name of NEET and added that it was closing the doors of medical education for many ordinary people.
He said that students in rural Tamil Nadu are struggling to clear the NEET and added that similar situation will be taking place in other states also.
Stalin, in a video message on Wednesday, said that he was "heartbroken" over the news of suicide of T. Soundharya, a NEET aspirant from Vellore district. He called upon the students to be self-confident and to emerge victorious.
Talking to IANS, R. Padmanabhan of Madurai-based think tank Socio-Economic Development Foundation, said:
"Stalin has taken a bold step to reach out to other non-BJP Chief Ministers. This will give him good acceptability among the general public of the state and he has used the opportunity to catapult himself to the national stage."
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