Haritha is a student of Kandili Panchayat’s Natham Government Higher Secondary School, Tirupatthur. She is the daughter of a lorry driver, Varadhan. In the 12th grade exams, Haritha scored 530 marks, securing the first rank in amongst the government schools in the district.

Similarly, she scored 460 marks in her NEET examinations, and has now secured a seat in Stanley Medical College, through the 7.5% internal quota for government school students.

Earlier, four students studying in Avvai Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School in Madurai had cracked the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and secured medical seats. One of them secured to study dental.

The four students had also benefited from the 7.5 internal quota for government school students that was brought during the Edappadi K. Palaniswami-led AIADMK government. It is important to note that all of them have cracked NEET in their first attempt.

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CPI(M) Lok Sabha MP Su Venkatesan, has stirred another controversy, by quoting wrong data in order to spread false propaganda about the budget allocations of the Central Government. In a tweet, he had mentioned the budget allocated for New line/Gauge Conversion projects  for the Railways. In his tweet, he had written in Tamil, “The budget allocated for the Northern Railway is 14,349 crores. For the Southern Railways it is 59 crores. The words discrimination and partiality is not enough.”

இந்த ஆண்டு இந்திய இரயில்வேயின்
புதிய வழித்தடங்களுக்கான நிதி ஒதுக்கீடு;

வடக்கு இரயில்வேக்கு 14,349 கோடி.

தெற்கு இரயில்வேக்கு 59 கோடி.

பாகுபாடு, பாரபட்சம் என்ற சொல் போதாது.

புதிய சொல் ஒன்று சொல்லுங்கள் மக்களே!#Railway pic.twitter.com/ZpAxUI5dRW

— Su Venkatesan MP (@SuVe4Madurai) February 3, 2022

However, the truth is that the budget allocated for Tamil Nadu Railways this year is ₹3,865 crores. This is 340% more than the 2009-2014 average. Also, the Modi government has allocated ₹125 crores for the Madurai Bodinayakanur project.

பொய்களை மட்டுமே பரப்பி வரும் மதுரை நாடளுமன்ற உறுப்பினரின் அடுத்த பொய் – ரயில்வே பட்ஜெட்😂

உண்மை👇
தமிழ்நாட்டிற்கு இந்த வருடத்திற்கான பட்ஜெட் – ரூ.3,865 கோடி.
இது 2009-14 ஆண்டு சராசரியை விட 340% அதிகம்
மதுரை போடிநாய்க்கனூர் ரூ125 கோடி திட்டத்தை ஏன் இவர் வரவேற்கவில்லை ? https://t.co/uLBVhfwi9V pic.twitter.com/Paa9iyg9N3

— Selva Kumar (@Selvakumar_IN) February 4, 2022

A Twitterati shared an image that shows the breakup of the allocation of funds for Tamil Nadu Railways, New line/Gauge Conversion projects. The split up shows that ₹59 crores is allocated for the Rameshwaram-Dhanushkodi line alone. Apart from the Bodinayakanur project, ₹121.80 crore is allocated for the Velankanni-Tiruturaipundi line. Another ₹54.2 crores is allocated for the Chennai Beach to Chennai Egmore line.

It is to be noted that the Southern Railway consists of only Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There are 16 different zones similar to the Southern Railway, for which funds are allocated by the Central Government.

மேலும் தெற்கு ரயில்வே என்பது தமிழ்நாடு + கேரளா மட்டுமே. இது போல் இன்னும் 16 ஜோன் இருக்கிறது. pic.twitter.com/J2FB8VGHtp

— Selva Kumar (@Selvakumar_IN) February 4, 2022

Dalit Christians from the South of India were disappointed and disheartened after they met with the papal representative (nuncio), demanding an end to caste discrimination within the Church. The Dalit Christian Liberation Movement (DCLM) met with Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, the Apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, on February 2nd in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

“He listened to our plight and demands very attentively but he did not commit anything. He was evasive on the question of ending caste discrimination against Dalits in the Catholic Church of India,” said Mary John, president of the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement (DCLM).

They had appealed to the nuncio to appoint a Dalit Christian for the posting of head of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore, a posting that is still vacant. However, Mary John said that his response for the appeal was evasive and non-committal.

She then went onto say, “The delegation felt instead of accepting the grievances and sufferings of Dalit Christians and the truth of caste discrimination and assuring of some concrete intervention with the Indian Catholic hierarchy, the papal nuncio refused to commit himself on any issue. The delegates were left highly disappointed with the nuncio’s responses, which showed a lack of understanding and grasp of the situation in India.”

She also added that the appointments were influenced by “nepotism and discrimination,” especially in the southern Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry region “with only non-Dalits being considered for the posts of bishops and archbishops.”

The DCLM has been consistently raising this issue of caste discrimination within the Church, for the past three decades with numerous letters and appeals to the Vatican and India’s Catholic hierarchy. 60 percent of India’s 25 million Christians are believed to be of Dalit and tribal origin.