Last updated: August 04, 2022, 6:11 PM IST
Kerala HC requests NTA response to PIL for countrywide standard exam protocol (News18)
Seven people were arrested in connection with the July 17 incident after a parent of one of the affected candidates lodged a complaint with police
Kerala’s Supreme Court on Wednesday asked for a response from the National Testing Agency (NTA) to a plea for a standard protocol for conducting exams across the country in view of a recent incident at a NEET exam center in the state where female candidates were asked to remove some of their underwear to appear for the test. A bench of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Judge Shaji P Chaly asked the NTA to file a statement and have the case listed for the hearing on Friday (Aug. 5), lawyers involved in the case said. PTI.
In addition to formulating a standard protocol for exams, the public interest lawsuit also seeks to direct the National Testing Agency (NTA) to allow affected female candidates to reappear for the exam, as they may not qualify. could concentrate on the test that day given the “traumatic” situation. The plea also called for free counseling for the affected students and for compensation for the “trauma” and “mental pain” they suffered.
Seven people were arrested in connection with the July 17 incident after a parent of one of the affected candidates lodged a complaint with police. Of the seven, five were women and two men, one of whom was a NEET (National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test) observer and the other an exam coordinator.
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Three of the arrested women worked for an agency hired by the NTA and the rest were employed by the private educational institute in Ayur, Kollam, where the incident took place. All seven were released on bail last week by a lower court.
Meanwhile, the NTA formed a commission of inquiry to visit Kollam. The PIL argued that this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in the name of exams and that the reason was the lack of a common protocol or system for administering exams.
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