The candidates appearing in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) PG-2021 exams Friday resented the inadequate exam centres set up in Kashmir.
The aspirants appealed the National Board of Examination (NBE), the exam conducting body, to establish adequate exam centres in Srinagar and other districts of Kashmir to accommodate all the aspirants in the exam centres set up within Kashmir.
Greater Kashmir received scores of distress calls and emails from the aspirants who complained that NBE had set up few exam centres in Srinagar district due two which majority of the aspirants were forced to opt for the exam centres in Jammu division.
“Majority of the exam centers were exhausted on the first day of registration and hundreds of students from Kashmir were left with no choice but to opt for Jammu as the test city,” said Seher, an aggrieved candidate from Srinagar.
The candidates said that they cannot plan their travel to Jammu amid the spike in COVID-19 positive cases and should be accommodated in the exam centres within Kashmir.
“The rise in COVID-19 cases is quite evident which makes travel during these times very risky. The anxiety and exam stress adds to the demerits of travelling right now,” the candidates said.
They said that there were apprehensions of contracting COVID-19 virus during travel which would tell upon their health during the last days of their preparation.
“The exam will be conducted in the month of Ramadan and it will be difficult for us to travel outside Kashmir to appear in the exam,” another candidate said.
The candidates urged the J&K administration to intervene into the matter and ensure setting up of more exam centres in Srinagar and other districts.
“The J&K government should take up the matter with NBE to set up more exam centres in Srinagar and other districts in Kashmir before the scheduled date of exam,” the candidate said.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole told Greater Kashmir that he would take up the matter with NBE Delhi.