BENGALURU: Several female candidates who appeared for National Eligiblity Test in the city on Sunday were upset about being forced to remove their ornaments, including mangalsutras and toe rings, while entering the exam hall.
Candidates say there was no mention about this on the admission ticket. One of the candidates said, “The admission ticket only mentioned about not bringing electronic gadgets. But when we came here, they made us remove even our mangalasutras. This hurt our sentiments. We are attached to some things as per our culture and tradition.”
One centre in JP Nagar saw a heated argument between candidates and the authorities. Some women were even seen in tears when they were asked to remove their mangalsutras. A few candidates objected when they were forced to remove their burqas.
An authority at one of the exam centres in the city said, “The hall ticket of the candidates specified that they are not allowed to wear watches or any metal. It also mentions that the use of electronic devices, bits of paper, books and mobile phones are prohibited.”
Some candidates alleged that not all centres followed this. “Several centres allowed candidates even with mangalsutras and toe rings. One of my friends wrote the exam in another centre where there were no such restrictions,” a candidate said.
NET was conducted by CBSE across 2,082 centres in 91 cities in the country. It was conducted for 84 subjects and 11.48 lakh candidates registered for it. This test is for the posts of assistant professor or junior research fellowship in Indian universities and colleges.