19-YO Travels 700 KM To Give NEET Exam, Denied Entry Because He Was 10 Mins Late

While the country is slowly opening up post the coronavirus lockdown, there are still some restrictions that are becoming a roadblock for students appearing for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exams.

One such student is Santosh Kumar Yadav who was denied entry to the examination centre because he was late by 10 minutes.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Santosh, a resident of Bihar’s Darbhanga travelled for more than 24 hours and switched two buses covering a distance of around 700 kilometres to reach his exam centre in Kolkata. Still, he wasn’t allowed to enter the centre at a school in Salt Lake as he was late by 10 minutes. As a result, he lost a year.

“I pleaded the authorities but they said I was late. The examination started at 2 pm. I reached the centre around 1.40 pm. The last deadline for entering the centre was 1.30 pm. I lost a year,” Santosh said.

Meet Santosh, a 19 year old who undertook a 700 km journey from Bihar, travelled non-stop for 24 hours, changed two buses, took a cab ride, reached his #NEET exam center in #Kolkata YET missed his paper.

He was 10 minutes late. pic.twitter.com/Gjm4Z270RD

— Indrajit Kundu | ইন্দ্রজিৎ – কলকাতা (@iindrojit) September 14, 2020

Sharing about the circumstances in which he managed to reach the centre, Santosh said, “I boarded a bus at Darbhanga at 8 am on Saturday to reach Muzaffarpur. From there I took a bus to Patna but there was a traffic jam on the route and I got delayed by almost six hours. I took another bus from Patna at 9 pm. The bus dropped me near Sealdah station (in Kolkata) at 1.06 pm. A taxi brought me to the examination centre,” he added.

Apparently, the aspirants are instructed to report at least three hours in advance for security and health check-ups amid the pandemic.

Earlier, while dismissing a petition for delaying NEET and JEE, the Supreme Court had said that students appearing for the exams should get all help in terms of travel and accommodation. Still many of them are facing hardships and some have even missed the opportunity this year.

With that said, I wonder why students are allotted centres so far from their hometowns. What are your views on this? Tell us.