NEET aspirant’s suicide: Family to get Rs 7 lakh

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government gave a financial assistance of Rs 7 lakh to the family of a Dalit girl who allegedly committed suicide over the NEET issue in September last, triggering widespread outrage across the state.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami handed over a cheque for Rs 7 lakh to S Anitha’s father Shanmugam at the Secretariat here, an official release said.

He also presented the appointment order to her brother Sathish Kumar as junior assistant in state-run Tamil Nadu Medical Plant Farms and Herbal Medicine Corporation Limited.

The government had earlier announced the compensation besides assuring job to a family member of the victim based on educational qualification.Anitha, 17, who moved the Supreme Court against the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) based medical admissions, allegedly committed suicide at her native village in Ariyalur district on September 1.

She was reportedly upset after knowing that the state would not be exempted from the NEET ambit.The SC had asked the government to start counselling for admissions to MBBS and BDS courses in the state based on NEET merit list.