CHENNAI: Taking exception to the remarks of BJP leaders who criticised Indian medical students stranded in Ukraine about their capability to clear NEET, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday asked the PM to stop his ministers from issuing unwarranted statements and instead expedite steps to evacuate all Indians to safety.
“It is not the time to make such remarks,” the Chief Minister said in a statement on Wednesday. “Saddened by the news from Ukraine that our students have been left to fend for themselves. While students face war and hostile borders, the Union government should stop blaming them and focus on evacuating them. It is the responsibility of the Indian Government to safeguard the life of every Indian passport holder,” the CM said.
Expressing deep grief over the death of Naveen, a medical student from Karnataka, Stalin said Naveen had to go to Ukraine for pursuing medicine because he could not get admission to a medical college in India even after scoring 97 per cent in Plus Two because of NEET.
“The DMK has been fighting to scrap NEET and the plight of our medical students in Ukraine shows why it is important to abolishing NEET. Tamil Nadu’s call to scrap NEET has started echoing in other States too and former Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy has raised his voice against the test,” Stalin said.
“Our immediate objective must be to rescue our students in Ukraine safely and abolish NEET, which remains a stumbling block in pursuing medical courses within the country. Realising that objective is not far away. Let us win by fighting together,” the CM said.