The Tamil Nadu Students Youth Federation has announced a memorial event to be held at Besant Nagar beach in Chennai, on September 1, which marks the ninth death anniversary of S. Anitha, a student who aspired to study medicine and ended her life in 2017, after she failed to secure an MBBS seat due to admissions being based on the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) and not on class 12 results.

The Federation, at a press conference held on Wednesday, August 26, called for all students and youth across the State to hold remembrance day events, marking September 1 as anti-NEET day, and to peacefully continue their opposition to NEET. Leaders of various political parties and film personalities would also be invited to the event, they said.

Representatives of the Federation noted that the State has been protesting against NEET for years now, and while other States then, did not protest, this year has seen a major protest — the Jantar Mantar protests in New Delhi demanding accountability for irregularities in examinations.

The memorial gathering, they said, was aimed at sending a unified message that the whole of T.N. still remains opposed to NEET. They claimed that entire premise of NEET that it would create meritorious students was false. They appealed to all students, youth and members of the public in T.N. to attend the gathering, and for all students’ organisation, irrespective of party lines, to participate.

(Those in distress may call the T.N. State helpline number 104 or the helpline numbers listed here.)