NEW DELHI: A 19-year-old NEET-UG candidate has sent more than 10 emails to the National Testing Agency (NTA). Her grouse is that the June 21 re-exam held in Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh was plagued by problems which have impacted her performance as well as that of other candidates. The young woman aspirant insists that they deserve another shot at the exam.
Speaking to this newspaper, the candidate said that the problems were faced not only by her but the 30-odd students in Hall No. 41 of the BLJ Inter College centre during the exam, which took place between 2 pm to 5.15 pm. She said that she lost out on answering 36 questions in the exam, as the invigilator suddenly announced that time was up despite the clock on the wall showing around 5 pm.
The NTA had supplied the clocks to nearly 93,000 examination halls where the test was being held to enable students to keep track of time, since mobile phones and watches are not permitted inside the exam centres.
The NTA had announced an extra 15 minutes for the retest this year. “I lost out on bubbling 36 questions, because the invigilator took away the OMR papers quickly from all of us suddenly, saying the clock was slow.” Recalling his exact words, she quoted him as saying, “Uss ghadi ke according mat chalo! Woh 15 minute peeche hai.” (Do not go by that clock. It is running slow by 15 minutes.)
The candidate recounted another problem. She said that a troop of monkeys stood at the windows of the exam hall. They indulged in loud chatter and made a bid to forcibly enter inside by breaking a window. “A peon finally drove them away with a stick,” she said.
She charged a male and female examiner of indulging in loud personal talk inside the exam hall. “When a few of us, including me, told them to reduce their decibel level, they threatened to take the OMR sheets from us,” she said. The student added that many students were upset over the happenings inside the hall and discussed taking legal action.
She said that the NTA responded to each of her mails by stating it had taken note. This newspaper sent a questionnaire to the NTA director general Abhisekh Singh on the issue, however he did not respond at the time of going to press.
