Last week, three young MBBS aspirants ended their life “for fear of failing in the National Eligibility and Entrance Test ( NEET)”. The usual suspect, the DMK expected that heavens will fall. Nothing happened. As a fall out, DMK talked of banishing NEET in the event of DMK coming to power in the 2021 polls. One DMK functionary (K.N.Nehru) went to the extent of informing the Press that, if DMK finds it impossible do away with NEET, students will be allowed to cheat in the NEET exam. There is valid reason for DMK’s defeatist tone.
DMK was a coalition partner in UPA Govt and played a major role in enacting and implementing NEET in 2010. The AIADMK government laid bare in detail the DMK’s complicity in bringing NEET and its current duplicity in opposing it, on the floor of the Assembly on September 14.
DMK sought to reap political advantage out of the suicides; it paid handsome amounts to the victims’ families. The AIADMK government in an act of one up manship, paid solatium and offered government jobs as well to the families. That prompted the Madras High Court to observe that this practice amounted to encouragement to commit suicide and must be stopped forthwith.
Over 1.3 lakh MBBS aspirants wrote this year’s NEET examination on September 13 as per schedule, on the face of political opposition to it.
The untenable arguments of opponents of NEET are:
- NEET has only benefited Forward Communities, Brahmins in particular. This is factually wrong. The statistics say the only about 4.5 % seats in medical colleges were allotted to FC both in pre and post NEET eras. This includes all the candidates who are not covered under caste based reservations. This also includes the candidates eligible for reservation, and competed in the open category.
- NEET is against social justice. This agreement is also wrong and unsupported by facts. Candidates are selected for MBBS/BDS courses based on the marks scored in NEET examination under existing caste based reservation rules. 93% of the seats allotted to candidates applied under reservation only. If the opponent of NEET feel the weaker section got raw deal, they only to blame for opposing the elimination of “creamy layer”.
- CBSE students have edge over others. It is the DMK and AIADMK that ruled the state for last 50 years are to be blamed. What prevented them from upgrading the state board education to CBSE level? The much tom tomed “Samaseer Kalvi” ( equity in education) has only compounded the matter. Successive govts neglected the school education , encouraged/helped mushrooming of private run CBSE/Matriculation schools.
