Opposition leader and DMK president M.K. Stalin on Tuesday demanded the adoption of a resolution in the Legislative Assembly against the Centre for its failure to cancel the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). He charged that the Centre had failed to respect the earlier resolutions adopted in the Assembly seeking exemption from the test, as well as the sentiments and feelings of the Tamil Nadu students.
Speaking in the Assembly at Kalaivanar Arangam on Tuesday, Mr. Stalin said he also wanted a resolution to condemn Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for his remarks that the Tamil Nadu government had not made any request to cancel NEET.
“The State government should take steps to ensure that admission to medical colleges takes place based on the marks scored in the Plus Two examinations. The DMK will support the government’s efforts,” he said. He charged that the Centre had refused to take as the united voice of Tamil Nadu students, the suicide note of medical aspirant M. Jothi Sri Durga who wrote: “I am sorry. I am tired.”
Alleging that repressive measures were unleashed against the students when they visited examination centres, he said a newly-wed girl was forced to remove her ‘thali’ before entering the examination hall.
“Many students fainted because of hunger and the parents faced a lot of difficulties because of lack of facilities. There were reports about usage of Hindi in examination centres in Madurai. In some places, questions in English were distributed instead of Tamil. Do the students deserve all this at a time when there’s a pandemic,” he asked.
