NEET 2019: Chaos among candidates on getting exam centres 410 kms away from home

NEW DELHI, April 18: The admit card for India’s biggest medical entrance exam, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, was released on April 15, 2019 and many discrepancies have surfaced since. In a turn of events, instances have come up where candidates have been allotted exam centres as far as 410 kms away from their residence. Candidates belonging to Washim and Akola districts, who have opted for Akola as their centre, were allotted a centre in Akole city of Ahmednagar district which is located around 410km away from Akola. Candidates living in Mumbai metropolitan area have also been allocated exam centres contrary to the choices that they had opted for in the NEET application form. In Maharashtra, as many as 18 exam cities have been offered this year. 

NEET mix-ups 

NEET has not been immune to mix-ups and errors as even last year, when CBSE conducted the exam, many candidates from Tamil Nadu were allotted centres outside of Tamil Nadu. This year, National Testing Agency (NTA) will be conducting the entrance exam for the first time and yet again problems in centre allotment has not been resolved. Faiz Anwar Yunus Khan, a NEET aspirant, reportedly has been allotted a centre which is eight-hour journey away from his home. Even the date of examination on the admit card issued by the authority had been mentioned incorrect which was later rectified. 

Parents of such candidates have also expressed their displeasure on the matter. Speaking to a national daily, a parent said, “My child was allotted a centre in New Panvel, even though we a resident of Dadar and had opted for Mumbai as the first choice for centre.” Allotment of exam centres in such far off places is problematic as there is an added expense of travel for these candidates. “As it is the examination day is a stressful time for students and there are risks with travelling long distances,” the parent added. 

Response for mix-ups 

NTA has provided helpline phone numbers and an official email ID on which the candidates can report any kind of discrepancy that they may have come across. However, on sending an email, the official email address was found to be undeliverable by many candidates. One of the official phone numbers is also temporarily out of service. The entrance examination is seeing the most number of registrations so far. Over 15 lakh candidates have applied this year as compared to almost 13 lakh registrations last year. It would be interesting to see how the newly formed body will tackle this issue as many are waiting for a response.