Over 500 NEET Aspirants Miss Exam Over Train Delay In Karnataka, No Alternative Yet

Bengaluru: Student bodies in several parts of Karnataka carried out protests on Sunday after nearly 500 aspirants missed out on giving their NEET exam due to delay in train services.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exams, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to professional medical courses were conducted on Sunday.
The 16591- Hampi Express en route to Bengaluru reached at 2:30 pm, an hour after the scheduled reporting time for NEET that was 1:30 pm.
The Indian Railways clarified that the delay was caused due to ongoing maintenance work in Guntkal, South Central Division. Chief Public Relations Officer of South Western Railway E Vijaya told a leading daily that the reserved passengers were given intimation by SMS ahead of the timings of the the diversion and rescheduling on the mobile numbers.
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah took to Twitter complaining the plight of the students to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. @narendramodi,
Ask @PiyushGoyal to work properly for next few days and then we will set it right. Also, ensure that the aggrieved students get another chance to write NEET exam.
2/2— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 5, 2019
Meanwhile, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy wrote on the official chief minister’s handle on Twitter and tagged ministers to intervene in the issue.
Hundreds of students from North Karnataka districts have missed the #NEET Exam being held today at Bengaluru due to a 7-hour delay of the Hampi Express. A last-minute change in the exam centres and lack of proper communication of the same has created confusion among students. .
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) May 5, 2019
I request PM @narendramodi, Rail Minister @PiyushGoyal, @HRDMinistry , @PrakashJavdekar
to intervene and ensure that students who have missed the opportunity today get another chance to write the #NEET2019 Exam— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) May 5, 2019
The demand for the re-exam comes at a time when several student bodies and political parties have called to scrap the NEET exam. In Tamil Nadu, the Congress and its ally, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had used the occasion to target the Modi-led government and asked for the scrapping of NEET.
Earlier, due to the Lok Sabha ongoing elections, the NTA had changed the examination centres of several candidates. Over 15 lakh candidate had appeared for the exam.
ABVP karyakartas in Bengaluru staged a protest in the city demanding justice to the students who could not appear for NEET examination due to train delay of more than 6 hours. ABVP seeks urgent remedial action so that no students suffers academically. pic.twitter.com/4811OLHPRx
— ABVP (@ABVPVoice) May 6, 2019
I'm Aware of the hardship faced by students appearing #NEET exam Due to change in examination center and delay in arrival of train. I will get in touch with respective authority and minister to find the Alternative solutions@PrakashJavdekar
— Chowkidar Sadananda Gowda (@DVSBJP) May 5, 2019
Also Read: NewsWrap: Top Stories From AP, Telangana On May 6