Close to 400 students from Karnataka missed the NEET exam due to a delayed Hampi Express train. They can now take up the exam on May 20
Bengaluru: As many as 365 students in Karnataka will get a chance to take up the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on May 20 after they missed it on Sunday (May 5) due to a train delay.
Hampi Express that was to ferry students from the northern parts of Karnataka to Bengaluru, chugged into the station seven hours late.
Also read: NEET 2019: Students to get opportunity to write exam again, says Prakash Javdekar
The National Testing Agency (NTA) confirmed that an exam will be held on May 20 from 10 am to 1 pm, just for the students who had missed it due to the train’s delay.
Union HRD minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said, "Happy to announce that #Karnataka students who missed #NEET exam due to railway delay will get another chance.”
Javadekar’s response came a day after Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy had taken to Twitter to request the Centre to allow the students to take up the exam.
BJP leader and Union minister Sadananda Gowda had also written a letter to Javadekar on the same lines.
Students staged a protest demonstration right outside the railway station for missing the test, that too, for no fault of theirs.
Also watch: Sadananda Gowda writes to Prakash Javadekar seeking help for 500 students
The Railways, however, attributed the delay due to the diversion of the train route from the normal route due to doubling of line work and operational reasons since May 3.
Kumaraswamy also wrote to the ministry to allow another 150 students who also missed the test as their exam centre was shifted to Bengaluru from Chikkaballapura at the last minute without prior intimation or information to them.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.