NEW DELHI: Even as the National Commission for Women (NCW) took cognisance of girls being forced to remove their innerwear before taking the NEET examination in Kollam, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which had denied the incident earlier, is now sending a fact-finding committee to Kerala to investigate the allegations.
In a statement, the education ministry said they had asked the NTA to ascertain all the facts about the incident from stakeholders present at the examination centre at that time.
“Further action will be taken based on the report of the fact-finding committee,” the ministry said.
The step was taken after several representations were made to Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan by the Kerala leaders. Minister of State of External Affairs V Muraleedharan and other public representatives from Kerala met Pradhan on Tuesday.
Kerala Minister of Higher Education and Social Justice, Dr R Bindu, also wrote to the education minister.
Meanwhile, taking a serious note of the incident, NCW said it is “shameful and outrageous” to the modesty of the young girls.
The father of a 17-year-old girl in Kerala’s Kollam district lodged a police complaint alleging that his daughter was asked to remove her innerwear before taking the NEET exam, even though she was following the dress code.
NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma, in a letter to the NTA head asked for an “independent inquiry into the allegations levelled by the girl students and to take appropriate action by law.”
The commission has also sought a time-bound investigation in the matter. The Commission has also written to the Director General of Police, Kerala, to conduct a fair investigation and to register FIR under the relevant law provisions if the allegations are true.
The action taken must be apprised to the commission within three days, a statement said.Earlier, the exam centre’s superintendent had told the NTA that the incident was “fictitious” and had been filed with “wrong intentions.”
NTA officials also said they had not received any complaint in this regard.