For days, students of the Government Cuddalore Medical College located in Chidambaram have been protesting against the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, demanding that they be charged the same fees as students of other government medical colleges.
In January 2021, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced that the Rajah Mutthiah Medical College and Hospital (RMMCH) would henceforth function as the Government Medical College for Cuddalore district.
A Government Order (G.O.) was issued to transfer the medical institutions attached to Annamalai University – Rajah Muthiah Medical College, Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing and Rajah Muthiah Dental College – to the Health Department of the state.
Accordingly, its affiliation was changed from Annamalai University to Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.
However, the college did not align its fee structure and continued charge the same fees that it did when it was a private college for students who were admitted before the college was taken over by the government.
The Students of the college have been protesting asking for a change in fee structure on par with other government medical colleges since January 2021.
The DMK which was in opposition then, assured that the fee structure of the college would be changed once the party comes to power.
And the main leader who politicized the matter by instigating students with enticing words was none other DMK chief MK Stalin’s son – Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Udhayanidhi who is also the DMK’s Youth Wing Secretary had made back then met the students and extended his support back in December 2020.
Udhayanidhi also equated the matter with NEET saying training his guns on the AIADMK government.
In a tweet posted on January 21, 2021, he said “It pains to see the slaves (referring to the then AIADMK government) who had allowed NEET to enter and sabotaged medical dreams of many, is now putting poor students under pressure by making them pay high fees”.
This was just weeks before elections.
A few days later on January 26, he spoke to the students of the college through video conferencing emphasizing the same – the DMK government once elected to power will revise the fee structure.
Just a month before election, Udhayanidhi raked up the issue again stating that the AIADMK government continued to collect higher fees despite issuing a Government Order (GO) to revise the fee structure. “This is proof that the promise of the slaves (referring to AIADMK leaders) should only be written in water.”, he said.
He also tacitly instigated students and the parents to rise in protest against the government if the GO was not implemented from the immediate academic year.
It is almost going to be a year since the DMK government came to power and the fee structure of the Government Cuddalore Medical College has not been revised.
Despite the repeated attempts to milk students’ plight for politics, it is Udhayanidhi’s promise which seems to have been watered down.
The fee structure has been revised for only first year students. Now, the students of second, third and fourth years are protesting against the DMK government asking for the fees to be revised for them as well.
On 21st April 2022, the DMK government turned down the request to regulate the fees of Government Cuddalore Medical College.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma. Subramanian while responding to a calling attention motion in the Assembly registered that the government would incur a loss of ₹300 crore if it regulated the fees for the college.
He said that the fee fixed during the admission process was usually not changed till the end of the course.
“This is because if the fee is reduced after the completion of the admission process, it would be an injustice to those who chose not to pursue admission in the college due to high fees earlier,” Mr. Subramanian said.
He also said that the State government had already incurred a loss of ₹119.88 crore by reducing the fees for first year students.
It is to be noted that the AIADMK government on 1st February 2021, issued a G.O. revising the fee structure for Rajah Muthiah Medical College, Rajah Muthiah Dental College and Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing.
As per the revised fee structure, MBBS students have to pay ₹13,160 a year as tuition fees; BDS students ₹11,610; and B.Sc. nursing students ₹5,000. The fee for postgraduate degrees is ₹30,000 a year, and for PG diploma, it is ₹20,000.
The DMK which had milked the students protests for its political mileage is now turning a blind eye to the protests undertaken by 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year medical students who have been demanding decrease in fees.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
Four die of police brutality in TN; Kollywood virtue-signallers look the other way
On April 18, two youth in their twenties travelling in an auto were stopped by the police during night check at Kellys. Vignesh (25), who used to offer horse rides at the Chennai’s Marina Beach and Suresh (28), a construction worker, were reportedly in possession of ganja and liquor. When the police confronted the duo, there was a verbal duel and Vignesh allegedly tried to attack the police with a knife. They were pinned down and later brought to the G5 Secretariat Colony police station. Vignesh later developed health complications. He started vomitting and had seizures. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead. Vignesh’s relatives reportedly saw injuries in several parts of the body.
A case of “suspicious death” has been registered and a police sub-inspector, a constable and a home guard personnel have suspended in connection with the incident.
Vignesh belonged to a Scheduled Caste.
Another incident was reported in Tiruvannamalai where a man named Thangamani, was taken into police custody on April 26 to inquire about illegal liquor sale in the area.
Relatives of the deceased alleged that the police had filed a false case and that the inspector had sought money to set them free.
The police on the other hand reportedly claimed that Thangamani had fits the next day and was rushed to the hospital. He apparently died in the middle of the treatment.
Thangamani was from the Kuravar community, a Scheduled Tribe.
These two incidents happened just over a span of ten days.
In another incident that happened in January 2022, a physically-challenged man named Prabhakdaran was locked up for allegedly stealing jewelry from a provision stores owner. Prabhakaran fell ill in the jail following which he was rushed to the Namakkal Government Hospital for treatment and was later shifted to the Salem Government Hospital. He died on January 12. Prabhakaran’s relatives have alleged police torture as the reason for the death. Three police officers were suspended.
Prabhakaran too belonged to a Scheduled Caste community.
In June 2021, a fruit stall owner named Murugesan was thrashed to death by police in the middle of the road. In a video that were doing the rounds on social media at that time, an officer named Periyasamy can be seen thrashing the man with a lathi until he remained motionless.
In all these cases, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu either offered a solatium or ‘promised’ a thorough enquiry with suspension or cases registered against accused police officers.
Despite these back-to-back incidents of police brutality, the virtue-signallers of Kollywood who consider themselves to be champions of justice have maintained stoic silence.
Remember the viral video of ‘Radio Mirchi’ Suchitra, explaining in graphic detail about the Sathankulam incident where two men named Jayaraj and Bennix allegedly died of police torture?
Well, she is no where to be seen now.
Actor-turned-virtue-signaller who issued a ‘strong statement’ against the custodial death of Jayaraj and Bennix stands with his mouth zipped.
‘Superstar’ Rajinikanth, who relased a picture of his ‘angry face’ expressing shock over the incident and calling for all the officials to be severely punished, has gone on mute to shoot for his next film with Sun Pictures.
#சத்தியமா_விடவே_கூடாது, which loosely translates to “truly, should not let this go” was the hashtag he used.
Full-time actor and part-time politician Kamal Haasan who demanded action against the police, judiciary, doctors involved in the Sathankulam incident is today missing in action.
Director Vetrimaaran who had made a film on custodial torture and had tweeted supporting justice for Jeyaraj and Bennix hasn’t uttered a word on any of the above deaths. The last tweet of his was in support of Jai Bhim, a controversial film starring and produced by ‘actor’ Suriya on police torture.
https://twitter.com/VetriMaaran/status/1278008005804519424
Many other Kollywood personalities like ‘Jayam’ Ravi, directors Vetrimaaran, Karthik Subbaraj, Pa. Ranjith and others have resorted to looking the other way.
Pa. Ranjith’s is an interesting case where he has played safe by retweeting a tweet from another handle about the recent Thiruvannamalai incident. Just like a soft slap on the cheek. Maybe he is having some trouble in his spine (probably lacks one), to give a hard-hitting statement.
This dead silence now and selective outrage from these celebrities tells a lot about their opportunism and how they stand in mercy at the gates of Gopalapuram.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.