ARIYALUR: A newly built auditorium of the Government Medical College Hospital in Ariyalur was named after S Anitha, a Tamil Nadu student who fought a legal battle against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in Supreme Court and died by suicide six years ago.
Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurated the auditorium in Ariyalur, about 75 kilometres from Tiruchirappalli in central Tamil Nadu.
Ahead of the inauguration, Stalin said her death made evident the 'NEET's cruel method' to pick students for medical courses.
As Anitha could not realise her ambition of becoming a doctor following the introduction of NEET, she ended her life on September 1, 2017.
A Tamil medium student, she had an excellent score of 1176 out of 1200 in her Class 12 board exam.
Hailing from a humble Dalit family in Ariyalur district, Anitha's death led to outrage in Tamil Nadu.
Following similar suicides of students who could not clear NEET, it became an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu and political parties barring the BJP are opposed to the national test.
Like its predecessor AIADMK regime, the DMK government also passed a Bill in the Assembly to exempt TN from the purview of NEET.
That Bill is pending with the President for her assent.
The DMK regime has been urging the Centre to allow the State to fill medical seats based on Class 12 marks by clearing TN's anti-NEET Bill.
In the apex court, Anitha had argued that it is impossible for students like her hailing from villages to opt for expensive coaching to clear the national test.
She had pleaded that Class 12 marks should be considered for admission to medical courses as before and only then students from villages could aspire to become doctors.
She died within nine days following the top court's judgment that upheld the entrance exam.
The 850-seater auditorium is built at a cost of Rs 22 crore.
The Youth Welfare Minister, on his Twitter handle, said he had made an appeal in the Tamil Nadu Assembly to name the auditorium after 'Thangai (younger sister) Anitha' and it was accepted by Chief Minister Stalin, who announced that it would be named after her.
Ministers Anbil Mahesh (School Education), Ma Subramanian (Health), Lok Sabha MP, and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan and top officials were present.