Bengal: Amid Covid-19 protocols, transport woes, candidates take NEET test

Candidates who appeared for the exam maintained social distancing norms while entering inside exam centres. Entry to centres began at 11 am while the test began at 2 pm.

Following strict precautions and safety measures amid Covid-19 pandemic, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was held across 189 centres across Bengal on Sunday.

Candidates who appeared for the exam maintained social distancing norms while entering inside exam centres. Entry to centres began at 11 am while the test began at 2 pm. Temperatures of students were checked with the help of thermal guns and provided with hand sanitisers upon arrival at the centres. The candidates were taken to a registration room where all their documents were checked. Students were also given specific time slots to ensure social distancing.

NEET is an entrance test conducted by the National Testing Agency for admission to medical and dental courses. The exam was originally scheduled on May 3. Later due to the pandemic, it was initially deferred to July 26 and then again postponed to September 13.

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At one of the exam centres at Delhi Public School in Kolkata’s Ruby Park, only 12 students were accommodated inside a single classroom and were given fresh masks. They were also asked to use alternate urinals.

Besides maintaining Covid-19 protocols, the students had a hard time reaching the exam centres. Several candidates complained that due to lack of transport, they had to shell out exorbitant fares to travel.

“Finding a transport to reach Kolkata from Malda was a big challenge. We had to pay an enormous amount of money to hire a private car,” said Nivedita Saha, a candidate from Malda district, who was waiting outside DPS, Ruby Park.

Another candidate from Murshidabad said he had to pay Rs 10,000 to hire a private car to reach Kolkata. “It would have been better if we had an option for online exam. A lot of money would not have been wasted and we could have avoided health risks,” said the student.

VBU online exams to be held by Sept 30

Kolkata: Visva-Bharati University (VBU) will hold the final-semester exams online, which will be completed by September 30, the authorities said in a notification. “The results will be declared within a fortnight after completion of the exam process by September 30,” said the notification. The decision to conduct the exams online was taken after a meeting of the head of the departments and officials. The notification added that the exam process will be conducted as per UGC guidelines and Supreme Court judgment. ENS