News Tamil Nadu

Why DMK Opposes NEET: Old Interview Of DMK Leader Arcot Veerasamy Reveals The Answer

August 18, 2023
The Commune

A 2018 video interview clipping of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) member and former minister for electricity and health, Arcot Veerasamy, was released during the En Mann En Makkal Padayatra.

The video, which blatantly reveals the level of corruption when it came to allocating medical seats to students in Tamil Nadu, was telecast on a large screen to the public during Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President, K Annamalai’s yatra near Kanyakumari.

In the interview with Thanthi TV, Arcot Veerasamy who is said to be very close to former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, says, “The financial challenges faced by the DMK compelled us to seek funds from others, especially during election times when our commitment to the people is paramount. Since I was the party treasurer, former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, used to ask me to make the arrangements and this is how I did it. I used to visit MAM (Ramasamy) at his house. He was a generous individual whom I greatly respected. He has also visited me several times when I was a minister. MAM used to run a medical college and since I was the Health Minister then, we used to release a list first for the admissions. He used to ask me for a copy of that list. When asked why, he would say, if we select the candidates from this list, they will anyway take up the government college seats, those empty seats would be filled by us and thus we need a copy of that list. So I used to send him that list. And since I had grown close to him, I would ask him for funds. While an amount like 1 or 2 crores was insignificant to him, his willingness often extended to 5 crores if I persistently requested him.”

From the above interview, it becomes evident that prior to the introduction of NEET, private medical colleges in Tamil Nadu (mostly owned directly or indirectly by politicians) collected huge money as donation or for securing the seat which was donated to the DMK.

In the video interview, it is revealed that Arcot Veerasamy became the treasurer of the DMK following the death of Sadiq Batcha.

Annamalai after telecasting this clipping alleged that this was the drama that was being showcased before NEET came into place, a time when medical college seats were sold for a hefty price.

The entire interview can be viewed here:

In the same video, Arcot Veerasamy also mentions that AC Muthaiah, India Cements head N Sreenivasan, have donated funds to the party.

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