COIMBATORE: Candidates, who had come to appear for the University Grants Commission (UGC) - National Eligibility Test (NET) exam at a private engineering college near Narasipuram in Coimbatore on Thursday, allegedly faced inconvenience after the invigilators deployed at the exam centre asked them to remove their belt and gold ornaments before entering exam hall.
However, TNIE found that candidates in other centres like Chennai, Tirupur, Tiruchy and Kinathukkadavu, do not face similar issues.
M Jayakumar, a candidate who made an official complaint regarding this with UGC online, said, “UGC’s instructions only say candidates are not allowed to carry any other personal belongings including all electronic devices to the examination centre and not to wear shoes with thick soles and garments with the large buttons. However, invigilators at Narasipuram centre refused entry to female students who came by wearing gold ornaments and asked to remove them, like the NEET exam. They even asked female candidates not to wear hair clips. Apart from these, male candidates were only allowed into the exam hall after removing the hip belt and waist cord.”
A female candidate, who appeared for an English exam in the same centre, told TNIE, “I was forced to remove my gold ornaments and toe-ring in front of the exam hall and had to keep it in my bag, without security.”
She urged UGC to take stringent action against officers who harassed the candidates in the name of checking in the centre.
When contacted, an administrative officer at the college told TNIE that their staff were not involved in the observer duty.
When asked about the allegation, an officer of NTA who coordinated this exam in the Coimbatore district told TNIE, “We have not received any complaint regarding the issue. Likewise, we did not give any instructions about removing the ornaments belts etc. We will look into this allegation.”
According to official sources, around 4,000 candidates wrote exams in two batches in the morning and afternoon in the centres concerned in Coimbatore on Thursday.