NEET Controversy Takes Centre Stage After AIADMK Minister Posts Morphed Video of Deceased Aspirant

AIADMK Minister Ma Foi K Pandiarajan received flak after he put out a morphed video of Anitha, deceased NEET aspirant, in the run-up to the state assembly polls. The video featured a voice similar to Anitha’s that sought support for the AIADMK and blamed the DMK for ‘killing’ 17 such aspirants.

Seventeen-year-old Anitha, who was the face of the struggle against NEET, took her own life in September 2017 after the Supreme Court ruled that medical college admissions in Tamil Nadu will be based on the National Admission Test (NET).

Anitha’s family is outraged and has decided to file a complaint against the Minister.

“You have shared a morphed video, as if she was supporting NEET and the AIADMK. Isn’t it a shameful act to manipulate the public? It is because of you (AIADMK) that NEET is implemented in Tamil Nadu. You have betrayed medical aspirants by not taking initiatives to exempt the state from the medical test. You have insulted Anitha by using a morphed video. This has really disturbed our whole family,” Manirathnam said.

After facing severe criticism and after Anitha’s family urged the Minister to take off the video, the tweet was deleted.

NEET has been an electoral issue in the state with both the Dravidian parties promising abolition of the test if voted to power.