The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the government of Tamil Nadu and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) over reports of hardships faced by candidates who took the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Sunday.
The commission sought detailed reports from the Chairperson of the CBSE and the Chief Secretary to the Tamil Nadu government, explaining why students had to travel outside the State to appear for the exam. The NHRC also sought to know the steps being taken by the authorities of the CBSE and the State government to ensure that such incidents do not recur.
Taking suo motu cognisance of a media report which stated that students were subjected to undue hardship and had to travel to other States, the commission noted that in one such incident, a 46-year-old man from Tamil Nadu, who had to travel about 500 km with his son to get him to an exam centre in Kerala, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday.
The NHRC observed that “the contents of [the] media report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights. The students endure tremendous pressure due to the examination. It is the duty of the State to ensure that they are not subjected to any kind of discomfort while they are appearing for the entrance examinations.”
It appeared that the State government and the CBSE authorities had “failed to provide examination centres to the aspirants within the State, resulting in hardships not only for the students but also their parents,” the commission noted.
According to the media report cited by the commission, at least 3,685 medical aspirants from Tamil Nadu had to travel out of State to take the exam, and neither CBSE officials nor NEET authorities had commented on why they were unable to set up enough exam centres within the State.
