Family of TN girl who killed self over NEET sends back Rs 7 lakh cheque
September 04, 2017 17:12
The family of 17-year-old Anitha, who killed herself last week after failing to get admission to a medical college, has rejected the Tamil Nadu government's offer of Rs seven lakh in financial aid.
"Anitha died to get exemption from NEET and not for any government aid," Anitha's brother Mani Ratnam said, turning away G Laxmi Priya the district collector of the state's Ariyalur, who visited the family to hand over a cheque.
Anitha was the daughter of a poor, Dalit daily-wage labourer, whose dream was to be a doctor. She scored excellent marks in her Class 12 exams and hoped they would help her get admission to a medical college.
But the Supreme Court ordered last month that admissions in Tamil Nadu would be based not on Class 12 marks but on NEET, the national common entrance exam, which Anitha could not crack.
She had pleaded before the Supreme Court that poor students like her who lived in villages could not afford private coaching classes that richer students in cities could, giving them an advantage in the competitive exam.
There have been protests across the state since Friday, when Anitha hanged herself. Amid huge public anger, activists and political rivals have accused both the E Palaniswami government of the AIADMK in the state and the BJP government at the Centre of letting down the state's students.
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