NEET: Tamil Nadu CM announces solatium, govt job to kin of youth who died by suicide
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday announced a solatium of Rs seven lakh to the family of a 19-year old teenager who killed himself due to stress, days before he was to sit for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test.
Also, a government job or employment under state undertakings would be provided to a family member of the boy from Ariyalur district's Elanthankuzhi village, Palaniswami said.
Vignesh, who could not join medical college despite having cleared NEET earlier and trying to improve his score this time around, allegedly killed himself on Wednesday.
Expressing grief over the youth ending his life due to mental stress, the Chief Minister said such extreme steps by students anguished him a lot and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.
Sustained efforts and a determination to face any issue would bring success and there are myriad ways to emerge victorious in life, he told the student community and assured them that the government is always committed to their welfare.
Also, he appealed to parents to understand the aspirations of their children and render appropriate guidance so as to prevent suicidal tendencies.
Pattali Makkal Katchi, meanwhile, announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the family of Vignesh and reiterated its demand to do away with the national test.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K S Alagiri flagged the stress confronted by students from rural background and those belonging to the backward classes, and scheduled castes in facing the national test.
Condoling the boy's death, Alagiri accused the AIADMK government of not taking "intensive measures" to halt NEET in Tamil Nadu and the Congress leader held both the Central and State governments responsible for the suicide of the student and for similar incidents in the past over NEET.
Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam chief TTV Dhinakaran wanted the DMK which has "more MPs" and Chief Minister K Palaniswami who held the reins of power to make "true efforts" to exempt Tamil Nadu students from the test.
He accused the DMK and Palaniswami of playing the blame game over NEET.
Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani, condoling the boy's death dubbed NEET as one that 'deprived' the students of their dream of medical education and demanded scrapping the test.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
