Over 200 students, who went to appear for the NEET examination on Sunday at the Presidency school, Doddaballapur road, Avalalli were in shock to hear about the changes in the examination centre, which is at least 40km away as their centre had been changed to Dayanand Sagar university in Hosur road.
 
Two days ago, the National Testing Agency (NTA) had notified about the change in centres across south Indian states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala.
 
However, this was not conveyed to students properly. Even now if the candidates login to download the admission ticket, the centre name is not changed.
 
“Students started turning up near the school from 11:00 am. They were shocked to know about the change.
 
Few students have reached the venue by bus, autos and taxis. So we are requesting the parents who come by car accompany to other centres.
 
This is absolutely negligence and irresponsibility of NTA. Now how can they reach within 1:30 pm? Some students also turned up after 12,” Shivanna, Karnataka state teachers association president told media .
 
It was a common sight to see people boarding others car and rushing towards the venue.
 
“We don’t know whether they have reached on time or not”, Shivanna added.
 
Train route diversion costs heavy for NEET candidates
 
Another set of nearly 100 students who were heading to Bengaluru to appear for the NEET examination from North Karnataka have almost missed reaching the venue.
 
The Hampi Express was delayed by more than 5 hours. The train left Hubballi at 8.20 pm instead of 6.20 pm. It reached Bengaluru at 2.20 pm, instead of 6.10 am.
 
The railways said the train was run on diverted route due to ongoing work at the Guntakal-Kalluru section. Instead of Bellary-Guntakal-Dharmavaram-Penukonda-Yelahanka, the train was diverted on Bellary-Rayadurga-Chikjajur-Arsikere-Tumakuru route, which is 120 km longer and involves engine reversal at Bellary.
 
“In addition to this, on May 4, departure of the train from Hubballi has to be rescheduled by two hours. Reserved passengers of the train that left Hubballi Saturday were intimated of diversion and rescheduling by SMS on the mobile numbers given during reservation,” South Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer E Vijaya said.