Auditorium named in Tamil Nadu after girl who died by suicide opposing NEET

An auditorium built inside the Ariyalur Medical College campus will be named after S Anitha, a medical aspirant, who died by suicide after she failed to clear NEET in 2017 despite scoring 1,176 out of 1,200 in her plus-two exams, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced on Tuesday.

The auditorium built at a cost of Rs 22 crore is being named after Anitha in memory of the 17-year-old who filed a case in the Supreme Court against conduct of NEET.

However, Anitha died days after the apex court refused to grant a stay to NEET, which is an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu. At least 20 students have died by suicide since 2017 due to fear of sitting for the exam or scared of the result.

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In a statement, the government said the Ariyalur Medical College campus was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2022 and the institution has been admitting students for the past two years.

“A modern hospital built for the people of Ariyalur inside the college campus is being inaugurated on Tuesday. The auditorium which can accommodate 850 people will be named after Anitha who died after waging a legal battle against NEET,” the statement added.

In the statement, the Government said it was still committed to getting an exemption from NEET for students from the state. Anitha is still the symbol of Tamil Nadu’s opposition to NEET and lives in spirit inside a library that Anitha’s family built in her honour from the money they received as solatium from several political parties and philanthropists.

The family spent the entire money they received from various sources to buy 12 cents of land and construct the library, which has now emerged as a centre of learning in the tiny village. The family, which still receives funds from philanthropists, spends the money on upgrading infrastructure in the library and helping under-privileged students in pursuing their education.

Inaugurated on the first death anniversary of Anitha, the library now boasts of nearly 4,000 books, journals, newspapers, and desktop computers that come in handy for students who use the facility.

Students from government schools, especially in rural areas, who study in Tamil all through their schooling find the examination discriminatory since they have to compete with those from CBSE and other streams across the country.