HYDERABAD/ WARANGAL/ KHAMMAM/ KARIMNAGAR: Allocation of examination centres far away from their native towns, coupled with poor public transport and the fear of Covid-19, added to the pressure and challenge of giving the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical courses, that was conducted across the country on Sunday.
Poor public transport played a spoilsport for many students who had to travel from remote places and small towns. Take the case of Shezan from Jadcherla, located around 90 km from Hyderabad. She was allotted Sarojini Naidu Vanita Maha Vidyalaya at Nampally as exam centre. Shezan said, “It would have been good if there was an exam centre in Jadcherla or at least Mahbubnagar. I had to start very early in the morning to ensure that I reach the centre well before exam time.”
Another student, K Venu had to travel around 100 km from Nalgonda to Hyderabad to give the exam at Kendriya Vidyalaya-1 Golconda. Venu said, “We hired a taxi as travelling in public transport would mean risking ourselves during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
A few students from Andhra Pradesh who had exam centres in the border districts of Telangana told Express about the hassles they had to face. B Anusha from Jaggaiahpet of AP, who had exam centre in Khammam, said, “We faced a lot of problems in reaching the centre as there are no buses running from AP to Telangana and my family is not economically well-off to hire a private car.”Meanwhile, mild tension prevailed at an exam centre in Mithila Nagar, Hyderabad, when some students were told that their exam centre was changed.
“I had to travel all the way to Gachibowli from Mithila Nagar to appear for the exam,” said one of the students. B Sai Vaishnavi, a student from Hanamkonda who recently recovered from Covid-19, was made to run from pillar to post by the officials at her exam centre — Talla Padmavathi College of Engineering, Warangal as she was asked to produce a ‘Covid-19 negative’ report before entering the centre.
Vaishnavi honestly mentioned in the self-declaration form on Covid-19 that NEET aspirants must fill before the exam that she had tested positive for the infection 20 days back. Looking at that, the officials at her examination centre asked her for a Covid-19 negative report.
This is despite the fact that she completed 17 days quarantine period as mandated by the government and there is no compulsion that one needs to get the negative report to get out of quarantine. Her parents searched frantically and identified an Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) where their daughter got tested for Covid-19 through the Rapid Antigen Test, which in minutes revealed that she is Covid-19 negative.
Only after showing the report she was allowed to give the examination by the centre. Despite all the hassles, Vaishnavi exuded confidence that she is sure of grabbing a medical seat as she did well in the exam.
Another student who suffered is N Vivek from Cherla in Bhadrachalam, whose exam centre was in Khammam. He said, “I faced a lot of problems in reaching my exam centre as I reached Khammam town last night but could not find accommodation, as my relatives did not allow us to stay at their home due to the fear of Covid-19 and the lodges, were charging really high rates. We finally found a small lodge that we could afford.”
Rush in Karimnagar
In Karimnagar, some students could not enter their venue because of the rush. One such student, Sailaja said: “I could not enter the venue at Vaageswari Engineering College because of rush. Later, the authorities did not alow me inside as it was very late by then.” Another student Keerthana, who too had to return home, was visibly unhappy that there was no order and there was no one to enforce it either, for which she had to pay the price of being turned away from the examination centre.
New normal at exam centres
In what is being called the ‘new normal’, students wearing masks stood in queues at exam centres with sanitisers and admit cards in their hands on Sunday in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana, to appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Checking their temperature using thermal scanners and giving out fresh masks were also part of the new normal. The exam started at 2 pm and concluded at 5 pm. Many students were seen waiting outside the centres from 9 am itself. According to the National Testing Agency, around 85 per cent of the applicants took the test this year. A total of 55,800 registered for the exam from Telangana, which was conducted at 112 test centres in the State, with each centre having around 500 students. Candidates were asked to follow the NEET dress code and declare their health status on the NEET self-declaration form. Security personnel frisked candidates with metal detectors, and asked them to take off their footwear, wristwatches before entering the exam hall. The candidates were allowed to enter the exam hall three hours before the exam commenced. Some of them were also asked to remove branding straps from water bottles to make them transparent