NEET protest in Coimbatore: SFI members submit ‘petition’ to late Jayalalithaa

COIMBATORE: Usually unions and students federations would meet ministers or officials, represent their demands and submit their petitions. But on Tuesday, members of the Students Federation of India (

SFI

) here submitted their

petition

to a politician who is no more.

SFI members submitted their petition, seeking cancellation of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), to a photograph of former chief minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa. They did this as part of their protest against NEET, which they also held to mark the death anniversary of S Anitha, an

MBBS

aspirant who committed suicide a few years ago due to NEET.

SFI district secretary M Dhinesh Raja told TOI that they chose to submit their petition to a picture of Jayalalithaa as ,when she was alive, the former CM was against NEET.

“But, the present state government, which says it follows ‘Amma’s rule’, has not done enough to oppose the test. A decision against NEET was passed in the state legislative assembly. But when the Centre is imposing NEET, the state is not courageous enough to oppose it,” he said.

“If the state doesn’t oppose NEET, we would next submit our petition to Jayalalithaa’s statue in Coimbatore.”

Dhinesh said, after Anitha’s suicide in 2017, this year R Subashree, a student from Coimbatore, committed suicide due to stress and anxiety caused by NEET.

“NEET would make it difficult for students from underprivileged backgrounds getting MBBS seats. This would cause a divide,” he said.

Holding NEET at a time when Covid-19 spread is increasing across the country was condemnable, he said. “We seek that the old method of admitting students in MBBS, based on Class XII marks be brought back. This would ensure social justice,” he said.

SFI members also submitted a petition regarding this to Coimbatore district collector K Rajamani.