BENGALURU: Hundreds of medical aspirants from North Karnataka, who were scheduled to arrive in Bengaluru on Sunday, to take the NEET exams, missed the test as they were unable to reach on time.
The students missed their entrance exam due to a seven-hour delay of the Hampi Express, prompting criticism of the Indian Railways from former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the afternoon, followed by an appeal by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, to allow the students another chance at taking the exam.
According to railway officials, the Hampi Express, from Hubbali to Mysuru, was being run on an alternative route, due to work between Guntakal and Kalluru.
As a result of the alternative route being 120 kilometres longer and prior delays, the train was delayed by 2 hours. While Railways officials claimed that the delay had been intimated by SMS, students who reached the city after the exams began said that they had received no such alert.
More than 15 lakh students took up The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET exam) on May 5, Sunday.
The exam conducted by National Testing Agency across India has students registered for the undergraduate medical entrance, the only gateway to enter medical and dental colleges. The exam was held in select centres of 154 cities across India, between 2 pm to 5 pm.
Railways to recommend re-exam for students on board Hampi Express
BENGALURU: The South Western Railway has decided to recommend a re-exam for the hundreds of students who missed out on the NEET Exam on Sunday due to the delayed arrival of the Hubballi-Mysuru-Bengaluru Express by over seven hours to Bengaluru.
Chief Public Relations Officer, E Vijaya, said the letter will be sent on Monday morning to the Human Resources Development Ministry.