Chennai: At the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET phase 1) was conducted on Sunday, candidates were surprised at the severity of the checks, including frisking, before they were allowed to enter the examination hall. Students had to take off their shoes, hairpins and even rubber bands from their hair.
Ashwin from Gudiyattam in Vellore district, who wrote his exam at the Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School, said he saw shoes and belts being kept outside the examination hall. “Each and every student was thoroughly checked. They provided us everything including pen and pencil and we were not allowed to carry anything inside,” he said.
According to the candidates who took the examination from PSBB School in K.K. Nagar, there were two separate rooms for checking. There were two female checkers and one male checker. The girls were not allowed to go in ponytail inside the hall. “We were asked to tie two plaits and my rubber band and hairpin were taken off. They provided us rubber bands. We also had to take off our watches,” said Sri Meera M who came from Coimbatore for the examination.
Muskan Jain, another candidate who came from Andhra Pradesh, said, “The checking was strict. I was asked to take off my nose stud, which I could not because I had been wearing it for a long time and the hole was too small. Apart from providing rubber bands, they also provided pens. All the girls were asked to take off their chains, earrings, bracelets or bangles and so on,” she said.
She added that they were searched thoroughly to check if anyone is carrying a microphone or Bluetooth device. “After checking, we were made to sit in one room and when everyone was done, we were taken to the examination hall. After the search it was written ‘checked’ and sealed on our papers,” she said.
Last year, the Supreme Court cancelled the All India Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Entrance test held due to exam fraud and the retest was conducted in July the same year. After that strict dress codes were implemented to prevent the sneaking in of digital devices to exam halls.
K.Srinivasan, CBSE regional officer, said, “Frisking is done nowadays for all kinds of exams. Last year, many students were suspended for malpractices, so this year we have made frisking mandatory. As there are all possibilities they may indulge in malpractices, so all the materials like that of hairpin, rubber band earrings, watches had to be taken off before sitting for examination.”
