TIRUPATHUR: Collector Amar Kushwaha’s timely help saved a NEET aspirant from missing the entrance examination on Sunday. The Collector was on his way to the Yelagiri Hills, when he saw 17-year-old Vediappan waiting for a vehicle at the foothills near the Ponneri check post.
Kushwaha was going to inspect one of the NEET centres set up at the hills in the district. It was already 1.15 pm and all the special buses had already left for the centre. Candidates had to report to their centres at 1.30 pm, 30 minutes before the test.
“I stopped at the check post to monitor the arrangements made to regulate traffic. Only special buses and private vehicles were allowed uphill,” the Collector told TNIE. At that time, I got to know Vediappan was stuck there, he added.
A resident of Vettavalam in Tiruvannamalai, Vediappan boarded a bus from his village in the morning, went to Vellore and then came to the district. The roundabout journey reportedly caused the delay. “He seemed nervous but I gave him a lift and dropped him at the centre 20 minutes before the test. After frisking and other procedures were over, he was allowed to enter,” added Amar Kushwaha. The district had two NEET centres.