NTA to conduct re-examination of NEET paper at Siliguri centre

Kolkata: The National Testing Agency (NTA) is set to conduct a re-examination for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), at an examination centre in Siliguri after medical aspirants failed to write their papers.

The candidates appearing for the examination at the Dr S S Agarwal Siliguri Model High School (Senior Secondary) at Gurung Basti under Pradhan Nagar in Siliguri had opted Hindi as the medium of examination, but no Hindi question papers were supplied in the examination hall. As a result, they failed to write their papers.

After considering the matter, the NTA has decided the conduct the examination for the second time on May 20. The NEET was held across the country on May 5 except Odisha, where the exam was deferred in the wake of cyclone 'Fani'.

The re-examination will be conducted from 10 am to 1 pm. Re-examinations will also be conducted at two examination centres in Bangaluru.

Many medical aspirants in the city have alleged that they were not allowed to appear for the NEET as they did they did not turn up with an identity card. They also alleged that in any examination conducted by the Central agencies, there are clear instructions written on admit cards on what items a candidate has to take inside the examination centre. This year, there was no mention of Identity card on the list.

The students who were denied to sit for the examination at various centres in the state, alleged that it was a mistake on the part of NTA that conducts the examination.

Nearly 75,000 candidates from Bengal sat for the NEET this year. Many have, however, raised questions on how the NTA is conducting questions on two sets of question papers as it is a gross violation of the Supreme Court order.

It may be mentioned here that some of the city doctors have already written to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar, against the Centre's decision to conduct separate exams for the NEET, which is a nationwide exam.

The Union HRD Ministry deferred the NEET in Odisha in the aftermath of the massive damage caused by the severe cyclone 'Fani', while across the rest of India the exam was conducted on May 5. The experts wanted to defer the exam across the country, as some other Eastern states were badly hit by the cyclone as well.

The city doctors also pointed out that the Supreme Court had earlier stated in an order that NEET must be conducted with a single set of question papers.