Bihar teen travels 700 km in 24 hrs, yet misses NEET exam by 10 minutes

Santosh Kumar Yadav, a resident of Darbhanga in Bihar, travelled for more than 24 hours to cover a 700-odd kilometre distance to reach Kolkata for his National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Unfortunately, he was late by 10 minutes and missed the examination.

Darbhanga: A NEET aspirant from Bihar was not allowed to enter the examination centre in Kolkata as he was late by just 10 minutes.

Santosh Kumar Yadav, a resident of Darbhanga, travelled for more than 24 hours to cover a distance of 700-odd km.

Describing his experience, Santosh said that he boarded a bus from Darbhanga at 8 am on Saturday but approx 6 hours got wasted as there was a fierce traffic jam between Muzaffarpur and Patna.

"We left from Patna at 9 pm and reached Kolkata around 1 pm on Sunday. Then I took a taxi and reached the examination centre around 1:40 pm. But I was not allowed to take the exam as the deadline for entering the examination centre was 1:30 pm," he said.

He further said that he had been desperately trying to book a bus ticket for two days and finally got one for Saturday.

The son of a farmer, Santosh also paid Rs 300 for his cab ride to the examination centre.

"I have lost a crucial year. Will see what happens...have to begin preparing for next year's test," the teenager added.

Petition in the supreme court

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

The petitioner-cum-lawyer, Shashwat Anand, in his petition, sought laying down of certain guidelines for food, accommodation, water and transportation for those students who missed out such examinations.

Anand also said that the authorities concerned should conduct the examinations for those students who unfortunately were not able to sit for the NEET or JEE.