Tales of examinees’ courage behind NEET ‘success’ story

Tales of examinees’ courage behind NEET ‘success’ story

Tamaghna Banerjee & Mayukh Sengupta

14.09.2020

A girl from Murshidabad spent the better part of Saturday night on a Salt Lake road after travelling 200km from home; a boy from Malda came to Kolkata three days early to beat lockdown; a boy from Behrampore fell unconscious at the centre after an arduous journey, and wrote the exam from a wheelchair; a girl from Nepal stayed 14 days in quarantine at a relative’s home before appearing for the exam in Salt Lake.

They could still take the exam; there were a few who could not, even after trying their best.

As lakhs of aspiring doctors took NEET on Sunday, out poured tales of grit and courage from examinees, who crossed boundaries of district, state and even country — not to mention walls of fear and uncertainty — all in order to take this one exam.

Beldanga resident Noor Jahan Khatun and her father, a bidi worker, had booked a guest house in Salt Lake, hoping to check in on Saturday and reach the exam venue on time. But when they reached Salt Lake on Saturday evening, they were told their booking was not confirmed and asked to leave. Not knowing much of Salt Lake, father and daughter sat on the footpath near tank No.7, preparing to spend the night on the road as the latter started revising under the street lights.

It was sheer luck that a good Samaritan spotted them some hours later, and helped them check into another guest house. “Had it not been for that person, I don’t know whether I would have been mentally fit to take the exam,” said the girl.

With Saturday’s lockdown revoked only on Thursday, many examinees and their parents had already started from their homes in different districts and states on Wednesday to reach the city on Thursday, staying at hotels and guest houses around the exam venues.

85-90% attendance in NEET-UG: NTA

Attendance for the NEETUG on Sunday was between 85% and 90%, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced, based on random sampling. Those who missed the exams after testing positive for Covid will get another chance to take the test. P 9

Students pay ₹40k to book bus from Malda to city

Sohail Rana, who was appearing for the exam at Apeejay School, Park Street, said: “It was only after we reached the city on Thursday that we came to know that Saturday’s lockdown was revoked. Had we known earlier, we could have saved the money spent on hotel stay. We would have started on Saturday itself.”

Several from faraway districts said they had to face a harrowing time arranging for transport. A group of examinees who were appearing from a venue in Howrah, said they had to shell out Rs 40,000 to book a bus from Malda to reach the city. “There were around 20 of us who hired the bus. We started early on Saturday and reached on Saturday night. We had to pay Rs 40,000,” said an examinee. Another examinee from Malda, Sneha Das, said she had to pay Rs 13,000 to hire a car to her centre on Park Street.

Behrampore’s Bikram Nandi fell sick during the journey and collapsed upon reaching his Kasba venue. But he managed to write the exam from a wheelchair after he was medically cleared. “He didn’t want to miss the exam after making the effort to reach,” said his father Ranjit Nandi, who works at a private firm.

Queuing up outside the Haryana Vidyamandir exam venue was also Avantika Malik from Nepal, who came out of her 14-day home quarantine only on Friday. “We had started from Kathmandu on August 28 morning in a car with Covid-negative certificates and took a train from New Jalpaiguri the same night to reach Kolkata on August 29. Since then we were in home quarantine at a relative’s house on Zakaria Street,” said Malik, who was accompanied by her father.

But, for some students like Darbhanga resident Santosh Kr Yadav, the 600km distance proved too much to cover as he missed the exam by a mere 15 minutes. Yadav had boarded a bus from his hometown at 8am but was stuck between Muzaffarpur and Patna for close to 10 hours because of a traffic disruption, and could only reach Sealdah at1pm.

(With inputs from Amit Moulick)

Smooth & safe NEET, papers easy: Med aspirants; cut-offs likely to rise

Smooth & safe NEET, papers easy: Med aspirants; cut-offs likely to rise

Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:14.09.2020

A relatively easy question paper, coupled with the smooth conduct of exams by the National Testing Agency (NTA), brought relief to most medical aspirants taking the NEET on Sunday.

Students who commuted by local trains to their exam centres did not face any hurdles, said Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative. They had to show their admit cards before entering stations and being a Sunday, they weren’t crowded.

Teachers are predicting a rise in cut-offs—by 10-15 marks —across institutes. From Maharashtra, close to 2.3 lakh aspirants had registered for the test this year. Most centres followed social distancing norms and the exam was well managed, but some places did see parents overcrowding outside the gates.

Tanvi Kulkarni, a student, said the paper was entirely from the NCERT domain and easy compared to the previous years. Anurag Tiwari, national academic director at a coaching institute, said that one question in physical chemistry possibly had two solutions, and it has to be seen which answer will be accepted by the NTA. Most questions were straightforward and easy to comprehend, he added. A few aspirants found the chemistry and biology section to be of moderately difficult level.

Keyur Cholera, from a coaching institute, said the cutoffs for open category students in Mumbai colleges are likely to go above 600—the paper carries 720 marks. While last year, too, the cut-offs were around 600, there were 26% seats in the open category. This year, with the interim stay on Maratha quota, 38% seats are unreserved.

At exam centres, thermal scanners, sanitisers and staff in PPE suits welcomed NEET aspirants. Most centres were well managed and the NTA had made proper arrangements, with no major negative reports, said Ruiee Kapoor, a parent representative. The reporting time was between 11am and 1.30pm for the exam that began at 2pm.

At SIWS College in Wadala, students got question papers 20-30 minutes late in two different blocks. “We were unable to open the digital lock on the trunk...NTA asked us to break it open. We lost a few minutes but students were given extra time,” said vice-principal Vaibhav Banjan. Around 1,200 aspirants took the NEET from this centre.

Nationally, over 15 lakh students had registered for the test. Despite the pandemic, exam attendance was 85-90% based on random sampling, said an official. Last year, it was 92.9%.

Candidates get screened outside a NEET exam centre on Sunday

Univs to hold online final-yr exams: Min

Higher and technical education minister Uday Samant, in a live interaction with students on social media, said state universities have taken a decision to conduct final-year exams in an online mode, in the multiple-choice questions format, after consulting their academic bodies. He said the state adhered by the SC directive and has decided on the exam format based on UGC regulations. TNN

NEET easy, admission cut-off may be up 20 marks

NEET easy, admission cut-off may be up 20 marks

Physics Paper Easier Compared To Previous Years, Say Students; State Board Candidates Find Biology ‘Moderately Difficult’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

14.09.2020

The cut-off for MBBS admissions in the state this year could go up by at least 20 marks, forecast experts, with most students finding the National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test (NEET) easy, particularly the physics section.

On Sunday, around 80% of the 1,17,502 students registered turned out in Tamil Nadu. “The attendance was more or less like last year. The exam was incident free,” National Testing Agency officials said. Entry and exit were planned well, with social distancing maintained in most places, while there was crowding at a few places.

Chennai registered 80% attendance, while it was 82% in Trichy, 81% in Madurai and 79% in Coimbatore.

Each of the 180 questions — physics 45, chemistry 45 and biology 90 — were for 4 marks, with 1 mark deducted for negative answer.

While Sanjay Lokesh found the physics questions slightly tough compared to the others, Irene said all three sections were easy. “I was expecting tough physics questions. But, I was able to answer all questions,” she said.

While terming it easy, Vinayak V said wearing masks and gloves were not much of a problem as he had appeared for JEE (Main) exam.

CBSE students found all three sections easy, but state board students found biology questions moderate.

Manthra D, a state board student, said biology was a little tough. “Overall, the paper was moderate. It was not too difficult or too easy,” she said.

R Deepalakshmi, a government school student, said the questions in biology were a bit twisted. “Though I spent five hours inside the hall, the time went really fast.”

B Pavan Kumar, deputy director, FIITJEE (Chennai) said the cut-off could go up by 40 marks to 50 marks for general category. “The paper was easy compared to last year. Students and coaching institutes got more time to prepare,” he said.

Students found chemistry and biology easy compared to last year, he added.

Himanshu Sachdeva, senior physics teacher at Allen Career Institute, said a lot of formula-based and expected questions in physics made it easy for students. “Overall, the paper was easy to moderate. The cut-off will be slightly higher compared to previous year,” he said, adding that 4-5 questions were tricky in each subject.

Anurag Tiwari, national academic director (medical), Aakash Institute, said usually, physics questions were tough. “This year, the questions in the paper were not calculative and lengthy. The questions were straightforward,” he said. Chemistry and biology also had similarly worded questions. “Overall, the paper was easy.

Looking into the question paper and reactions, students will score high marks compared to last year. In every state, the cut-off will increase by at least 15-20 marks,” he added.

SMOOTH SAILING: Postponed by the pandemic, NEET was held across centres in the state. With stringent anti-Covid measures in place, around 80% candidates turned up to write the exam in Chennai

5 NEET spl trains run with just 21 passengers

5 NEET spl trains run with just 21 passengers

Ishita Mishra@timesgroup.com

14.09.2020

Officials at Dehradun railway station were taken aback on Sunday afternoon when an ‘exam special’ train, meant for NEET aspirants, arrived completely empty at the station from Moradabad. A team of doctors, government officials and other railway staffers deputed at the platform to check the students on arrival went back empty-handed.

Sitaram Sonkar, station superintendent at Dehradun railway station, told TOI that “since there were over 18 centres for NEET in Dehradun and 12 in nearby Roorkee, the railways had specially organised this train so that students could commute easily. “It came as a surprise to us that no one took the train,” he added. Interestingly, attendance at the exam centres in Dehradun and Roorkee was high and a large number of students could be seen queuing up to appear for the exam. A railways official said that “perhaps due to the Covid threat, students preferred to make their own arrangements to reach the exam centres rather than opting for the special trains.”

The fate of several other ‘exam specials’ operated by the Moradabad, Prayagraj and Agra divisions was no better. According to railways sources, the special NEET train that ran from Bareilly to Ghaziabad had just one passenger while the one from Bareilly to Lucknow had five. In all, the five special trains that the Moradabad railway division organised for NEET exam aspirants for travel to and from Dehradun, Roorkee, Lucknow and Moradabad got a total of 21 passengers. And the railways, which spent lakhs on operating these trains, made a princely sum of ₹1,040. Anuj Singh, assistant commercial manager (ACM), Moradabad division, said, “The Bareilly to Ghaziabad train got one passenger and earned Rs 65 while the Bareilly to Lucknow exam special got five passengers and had earnings of ₹230. Train no. 04305 — Bulandshahr to Bareilly — got three passengers and we have earned Rs145 from it. Maximum 12 passengers boarded the exam special from Haridwar to Bareilly, providing earnings of ₹600.”

Keshav Tripathi, PRO, Prayagraj division, said that the response of NEET aspirants to the exam special trains operated by their division was also “quite dull.” “The special train that ran from Aligarh to Delhi ---which was operated by our division -- was boarded by five people only, incurring a total income of around ₹250 for the Railways,” he said. (With inputs from Ramendra Singh in Bhopal)

FINAL PREPARATION: Candidates appearing for NEET travel in a metro train in Kolkata on Sunday

More than 85% candidates appeared for NEET-UG: NTA

More than 85% candidates appeared for NEET-UG: NTA

Covid +Ve Students To Get Another Chance To Take Exam

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 14.09.2020

Based on random sampling, the National Testing Agency said that the attendance for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) on Sunday was between 85% and 90%.

Those candidates who missed the exams after being tested positive for Covid-19 will get another opportunity to sit for the test, the date for which will be announced later. From this year the admissions to MBBS course in the 13 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry will also be made through NEET following the amendment in National Medical Commission Act, 2019, passed by Parliament last year.

In many places NTA also arranged buses and private vehicles to transfer candidates who arrived at the centres assigned to them earlier instead of the changed one.

A total of 15.97 lakh candidates registered for the test this year as against 15.13 lakh in 2019. The attendance in 2019 was 92.9%. Unlike JEE (Main), NEET-UG is a pen-paper exam and NTA officials said that it will be able to compile the data on Monday after the centres send feedback after the dispatch of the OMR sheets.

“Based on random sampling the attendance is found to be between 85% and 90%, which is marginally lower than that of last year. The tests have been completed successfully,” said a senior official at the NTA headquarters in Noida.

 The test was offered in 11 languages – English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu this year. Based on the initial report more than 77% aspirants took the test in English, around 12% in Hindi and 11% in other languages. At a centre in Mumbai the distribution of the question paper got delayed by half-an-hour as the access card to open the digital lock failed. Finally, the trunk had to be opened manually and candidates were given extra time. Following the ministry of health and family welfare’s standard operating procedures, NTA, to avoid crowding had to add and change centres of some candidates on September 10 and 11. Though the candidates were informed via phone calls and emails, they landed up in their earlier assigned centres in the morning. For instance, in Nagpur, NTA arranged buses and vehicles to transfer the candidates to their correct centres before the exams started at 2pm. Also as per MoHFW’s SOP, Covid-19 positive candidates were not allowed to take the exam on Sunday and they will be allowed to appear at a later date. According to Vineet Joshi, director general, NTA, “Candidates who missed the test or were denied entry as they are Covid-19 positive will be allowed to take the test later. They need to follow the procedure like email to NTA attaching their medical test certificate, etc. NTA will take stock and announce the date later.”

Candidates found the conduct of the exam safe. While the agency had allotted just 12 candidates per room, down from 24 in 2019, many candidates said their room had an even lesser number of candidates.

Full report on www.toi.in

A student wearing mask and gloves makes last-minute preparations for the NEET in Kerala on Sunday

HC upholds punishment of cop for participating in strike

HC upholds punishment of cop for participating in strike

K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:14.09.2020

Observing that there was no infirmity in the punishment order passed by the authorities, Madras high court dismissed the plea moved by a policeman challenging his punishment for participating in an agitation.

The court was hearing the petition by V Marimuthu, a police constable attached to Madurai city police, challenging the punishment order issued to him when he was working with Coimbatore city police. The charge against him was that he along with 27 other policemen assembled and raised sloganson theofficecampusof the Coimbatore city police commissioner seeking to relieve those transferred. Justice R M T Teekaa Raman observed that they had also participated in a procession and a few of them had given interviews to the media.

Since the charges were proven after an inquiry, the disciplinary authority had issued punishment of postponement of increment for three years with cumulative effect to the petitioner in 2015. When he filed an appeal, the appellate authority had reduced the postponement of increment to two years without cumulative effect.

“In administrative law, transfer order and relieving order are two different things. Depending upon the administrative exigency the relieving order will come into force on a later date and the same is not per se arbitrary,” observed the judge. According to Rule 25 of Tamil Nadu Police Subordinate Police Officers Conduct Rules, noofficer shallengagehimself in strike on incitements there to on in ‘similar activities’. The expression ‘similar activities’ shall be deemed to include absence from work without permission or neglect of duties on any other act done or omitted to be done with the object of compelling something tobedoneby superior officers or the government and shall include any demonstrative fast usually called hunger strikes for similar purpose.

Patronage increases for long-haul SETC services

Patronage increases for long-haul SETC services

Deepak.Karthik@timesgroup.com

Trichy: 14.09.2020

A week after the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) resumed long-distance bus services suspended during the lockdown, the patronage has surged across cities, leading to an increase in services, addition of special buses and resumption of trips to more destinations. While weekdays continue to handle normal footfall, special bus services are being operated to ensure social distancing and clear the rushof thoseheading to Chennai and Bengaluru from the districts.

In Chennai, patronage for SETC has been slowly increasing.Thecorporation hasbeen operating 400 buses of which 300 were to various tier-two cities,but nowthe number is500. There demand has been more to operate to the southern districts. There has been a corresponding marginalincreasein revenue too, which officials say,helpedthecorporation pay for its fuel cost.

Before Covid -19, the corporation used to operate 1,100 buses and net a revenue of around Rs1.75 crore, but now only half of its fleet are operating and with lesser number of passengers, said the official. As of now, SETC is confining its operation to within the state. Karnataka had requested it to resumeservices,butthe authorities were awaiting clearance from the government in this regard, the official said.

In Trichy,when services resumed on September 7 after five months, it operated only 13-15 buses connecting Chennai. The patronage subsequently increased by up to 40% and during the weekend, heavy demandsawservicesdoubleto 30 a week. This was because a large number of families began travelling to visit relatives and attend family events in Chennai and vice-versa. Professionals and those heading to their workplaces kept the demand alive amid the Covid-19 spread. “On Sunday, we operated five special buses to Chennai, but the demand is not back to the pre-Covid-19 times,” a manager with SETC Trichy said. Ultra-deluxe (pushback seater) bus services were also operated to Hosur and Nagercoil from Trichy according to the demand. Limited train services to Chennai and absence of private omnibus operators were cited as a key reasons for the surge in demand.

In Madurai too, the demand for SETC service has increased in a week. From operating 30 buses on day one, SETC Madurai now operates 38. Officials said they have been operating buses on Rameswaram-Madurai-Salem and Rameswaram-Madurai-Chennai routes for the past two days.

(With inputs from P Oppili, V Devanathan and A Subburaj)

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