Plea in SC as Bihar student's 700-km journey for NEET leaves him 10 mins too late for exam

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of a news report about a student not being allowed to appear for NEET examination for being late to reach the examination centre by 10 minutes, completely ignoring the fact that he travelled about 700 km to reach the centre.

Shashwat Anand, the petitioner who is also a lawyer by profession, urged the Supreme Court to direct concerned authorities to conduct the examinations for those students who unfortunately were not able to sit for the NEET or JEE. The petition also sought the intervention of Supreme Court to direct authorities to lay down certain guidelines for an arrangement of food, accommodation, water and transportation of those students who missed such examinations. The petition is likely to come up for hearing within a week or so, according to ANI.

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Bihar boy denied access in Kolkata centre 

The petition is in relation to a case of Bihar-based aspirant who travelled about 700 kilometres to arrive at the examination centre in Kolkata but missed the entrance test by 10 minutes. Santosh Kumar Yadav from Bihar's Darbhanga changed two buses to appear for the exam but wasn’t allowed inside the exam hall after he was 10 minutes late.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Yadav, who had been preparing for months pleaded with authorities to let him sit for the test as the exam was scheduled to start at 2.00 pm and he reached the centre at 1.40 pm. However, Yadav was told that he was late by 10 minutes and didn’t allow him to sit for the exam.

The candidate boarded a bus at Darbhanga at 8 am on September 12 and changed a bus in Muzaffarpur for Patna. A traffic jam on the way to Patna caused a six hour delay as claimed by the candidate, and he boarded a bus to Kolkata at 9 pm. According to media reports, he reached Sealdah station at 1.06 pm and took a taxi for the exam centre, but missed the exam by 10 minutes.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) had directed NEET aspirants to reach the exam centre three hours before the commencement of the test due to COVID-19 measures. NTA held NEET on September 13 after the Supreme Court declined to hear the review petition challenging the decision to conduct the exams amid coronavirus pandemic.

(With ANI inputs, image credit: PTI)

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