The complainant, who took the test at the Marthoma Institute of Information and Technology in Ayur, Kollam, alleged that students were forced to remove their underwear, even though the dress code set by the NTA does not mention any such requirement. The complainant said the children faced mental torture owing to the “rude behaviour”. “Many students were removing the hooks. The mental state of these students was disturbed and they could not attend the exam with confidence. Their underwear was put together in a storage room disregarding the Covid situation. When students initially refused to remove their underwear, they faced the question of whether their future or underwear was more important for them,” read the complaint.
ALSO READ: Girl students asked to remove innerwear at NEET centre in Kerala
NTA on Monday night issued a clarification stating that “On the receipt of the report, immediate comments of the Centre Superintendent and the Independent Observer, as well as the City Coordinator, Kollam district were obtained. All three of them have inter alia, stated that they did not find any such incident happening in the centre. The candidate did take the examination.”
NTA further stated that “There was no representation/complaint to any one during or immediately after the examination. Nor has NTA received any email/ complaint in this regard.
“As far as NTA’s Dress Code for NEET is concerned it does not permit any such activity alleged by the parent of the candidate.
“The code provides for ensuring the sanctity and fairness of conducting the Examination while observing sensitivity towards the Gender/Religious/ Cultural/Regional sensitivities involved in frisking/ biometric of candidates.”
Ministry of education in a statement said that the matter has been brought to the notice of the ministry through various media reports and that NTA has already issued a clarification in this regard.
The statement further read, “Further, V Muraleedharan, MOS, ministry of external affairs and parliamentary affairs and other public representatives from Kerala have met the union education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan today. R Bindu, minister of higher education and social justice, the government of Kerala has also written a letter to the union education minister.
“In view of the above, the ministry of education has asked the National Testing Agency to ascertain all the facts about the incident on the spot from stakeholders present at the centre at that time.
“Accordingly, a fact-finding committee has been constituted by the NTA to ascertain the facts in detail. Further action will be taken based on the report of the fact-finding committee.”
NTA’s independent observer on Monday reported that “The centre supdt told me that they had seen metal button sitting on the shoulder of a girl while the women do the frisking. When I asked the girl about things, she told me nothing and she went to the examination hall. Other than that, I did not notice any other problems. The centre supdt told me that a police officer at Chadayamangalam Police Station told the parents (one parent was his relative) should be allowed to rest on the college campus. The centre supdt didn’t allow…” adding, “I have not directly observed anything like stripping of undergarments as alleged in the complaint.”
The city coordinator of Kollam in his report wrote, “The complaint levelled by the parent seems to be with wrong intentions.”
Calling the allegations “fictitious” and “in bad intentions”, the centre superintendent said that the official was vigilant during the entire process and “no bad incident has taken place”.
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