MUMBAI: Some of the students at the NEET exam who were asked to change their dress, had their innerwear examined or made to wear their tops inside out have complained to the NTA.
The agency conducted the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test 2023 on Sunday at 4,000-odd centres for over 2 million candidates. Before the exam, the NTA had said it would issue “comprehensive instructions” to staff at exam centres to be mindful of sensitivities involved in frisking female candidates.
Candidates also took to social media to report about the manner in which “bra straps” were checked and “inner wear was asked to be opened” for frisking. A doctor couple whose complaint is with TOI, said it came to their “notice that girl students in a centre in Sangli (Kasturba Walchand College) were made to remove their kurtas and wear them inside out. This came to our notice when our daughter informed this after coming out. This is absolutely unacceptable and no way to treat students who appear for such an important exam. This action itself mentally disturbs a student before a critical exam.”
A candidate who took the exam from HMC Education Centre, Hindmotor, Bengal, took to social media to report his experience. He said several candidates were asked to “change their pants” or “open” their inner wear. “Several girl students had interchanged their jeans with their mother’s leggings…” He wrote that since there were no enclosures or shops around the centre, “girls had to change their dresses in an open playground along with boys, with their parents surrounding their children to protect them…”
However, an NTA official denied that students were asked to change clothes in open playground in case of the West Bengal incident. With regards to the centre at Sangli, the official said, some invigilators found girls wearing kurtas with something written on them. “So, maybe initially a few people were asked to change and wear their tops inside out, but it was stopped. We have asked for a statement from the frisking agency and asked for CCTV footage.”
The principal of HMC Education Centre, Sonita Roy, said students who came wearing pants with pockets were asked to change as the attire was against the mandated dress code. “Some students came wearing pants with pockets. We told them to buy something from the shops and change in our rooms. I was there with two observers…they came with collars. Some had six pockets. I was with my scissors and my team was cutting pockets. If some candidates changed somewhere else, it was outside our gates. We were also telling students that if your house is nearby, go and change as there was time till 1.30pm to enter the exam centre,” added Roy. She said candidates were not asked by her faculty or invigilators to change their clothes in the open.
The agency conducted the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test 2023 on Sunday at 4,000-odd centres for over 2 million candidates. Before the exam, the NTA had said it would issue “comprehensive instructions” to staff at exam centres to be mindful of sensitivities involved in frisking female candidates.
Candidates also took to social media to report about the manner in which “bra straps” were checked and “inner wear was asked to be opened” for frisking. A doctor couple whose complaint is with TOI, said it came to their “notice that girl students in a centre in Sangli (Kasturba Walchand College) were made to remove their kurtas and wear them inside out. This came to our notice when our daughter informed this after coming out. This is absolutely unacceptable and no way to treat students who appear for such an important exam. This action itself mentally disturbs a student before a critical exam.”
A candidate who took the exam from HMC Education Centre, Hindmotor, Bengal, took to social media to report his experience. He said several candidates were asked to “change their pants” or “open” their inner wear. “Several girl students had interchanged their jeans with their mother’s leggings…” He wrote that since there were no enclosures or shops around the centre, “girls had to change their dresses in an open playground along with boys, with their parents surrounding their children to protect them…”
However, an NTA official denied that students were asked to change clothes in open playground in case of the West Bengal incident. With regards to the centre at Sangli, the official said, some invigilators found girls wearing kurtas with something written on them. “So, maybe initially a few people were asked to change and wear their tops inside out, but it was stopped. We have asked for a statement from the frisking agency and asked for CCTV footage.”
The principal of HMC Education Centre, Sonita Roy, said students who came wearing pants with pockets were asked to change as the attire was against the mandated dress code. “Some students came wearing pants with pockets. We told them to buy something from the shops and change in our rooms. I was there with two observers…they came with collars. Some had six pockets. I was with my scissors and my team was cutting pockets. If some candidates changed somewhere else, it was outside our gates. We were also telling students that if your house is nearby, go and change as there was time till 1.30pm to enter the exam centre,” added Roy. She said candidates were not asked by her faculty or invigilators to change their clothes in the open.