As NEET fire spreads, protesters outside Tamil Nadu discover the first ‘martyr’: Anitha
As potent a symbol she was, the tragedy of Anitha – and several hundreds of thousands like her – was a story that was largely ignored by those from other states. Not anymore
SFI members stage a protest against holding of the NEET exam, in Chennai; Anitha's class 12 marksheet (PTI)
CHENNAI: Since September 1, 2017, Tamil Nadu’s collective opposition to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) has had a name and a face: S Anitha, an exceptionally bright student from a Dalit family in Ariyalur, who scored 1,176 out of 1,200 in her Class 12 exam but was still pushed to taking her own life after being dejected by her inability to crack the national-level test that is mandatory for medical admission in India.
However, as potent a symbol she was, the tragedy of Anitha – and several hundreds of thousands like her – was a story that was largely ignored by those from other states. Not anymore.
The Congress’s Kerala unit, which has emerged as one of the most vociferous campaigners against the manner in which the test was conducted – alleging discrepancies, malpractice and all-round criminal inefficiency – posted Anitha’s case to drive home the accusation that the system is rigged against those like her.
What happened to Anitha is particularly noteworthy, considering the information that is tumbling out of the cupboard from this year’s NEET-UG. A few days ago, the Congress handle had posted the Class 12 marksheet of a candidate who scored as high as 705 out of 720 in NEET, but failed to clear physics and chemistry in the board examination.
Compare that with Anitha’s case: She scored 200/200 in physics, 199/200 in chemistry, and 194/200 in biology. Such spectacular score by a girl who hailed from a family of daily wagers, one who had no support system to speak of to crack the competitive examination, meant little in the end. Several studies have shown how those from CBSE stream and English medium had a distinct, unfair advantage over others when it comes to NEET.
Realising how other states are also waking up to the issues that aspirants, activists and politicians here have been raising for long, the Tamil Nadu government recently released the findings of the AK Rajan committee in nine other languages.
Now, nearly seven years after she killed herself, Anitha is emerging as a larger symbol of the fight against the skewing of the field. But if she had gotten that medical admission that she deserved, Anitha would have been a doctor now. Few would have known her academic achievement; but that would not have mattered to the hundreds who would have been benefitted by the doctor she was to be.