More than five hundred students from humble backgrounds like the daughter of a platform vendor and the child of a restaurant waiter have made it to government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu to pursue MBBS and BDS. The 7.5% quota for NEET qualified students from government schools since last year has made this possible even though their NEET score is not as high as urban students cracking it with private coaching. The Tamil Nadu government is still fighting to get an exemption from NEET through legislative means for what it calls a level playing field. Though the state has passed a bill for this, the Governor is yet to forward it to the President. NDTV speaks with some of these students and a teacher.
