BENGALURU: Learning from experience, several aspirants of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) who missed the examination on May 5 because of a train delay, chose to travel by buses this time to reach Bengaluru for the test on Monday.
Parents also accompanied some of the students to the exam centre at BBUL Jain Vidyalaya on KR Road, which was the only designated centre for NEET.
“I cannot forget the trauma I faced last time when I missed the exam. So this time my parents and I took the bus and reached the city a day in advance. Several of my classmates too travelled by bus on Sunday itself. Today (on Monday) we are heading back to our hometown,” said Rohit, an aspirant from BEST College in Ballari. While many students found the Biology paper easy, Physics, they said, was a tough one to crack.
The exam centre being closer to Kempegowda Bus Station, the city’s prime bus depot, was a boon to many outstation students. Most of the students were at the exam hall by 9am - half an hour earlier than the set deadline.
State Coordinator for the exam, Dr Dakshayini Kanna, told The New Indian Express that they were no absentees among the aspirants who had registered. “As many as 84 students wrote the exam, of which 80 had uploaded their documents — train ticket and hall ticket - online. Four had brought the physical documents to the exam hall. They too were allowed to write the exam but after signing an undertaking,” she said.
Official sources said close to 30 students were not allowed to write the exam as they could not produce any proof of being on the train that was delayed. However, Dr Kanna clarified that these students did not miss the NEET on May 5 due to the train delay. She added that these students thought that the re-exam was for all aspirants who had missed the test, whereas it was only for those who were on the delayed train.
On May 5, it was reported that at least 250 students had missed the NEET after the Hubballi-Bengaluru-Mysuru Hampi Express was delayed by eight hours.