Train delay costs hundreds of students NEET test, Siddaramaiah seeks PM’s intervention

Hundreds of students missed the national eligibility cum entrance test (NEET) for admissions to medical courses on Sunday as the train they boarded from Ballari and other places arrived in Bengaluru well after the exams were over.

This left all of them agitated as NEET score is a prerequisite for getting a seat in medical colleges in India, and students usually prepare for several months to perform well. Several students tweeted requesting Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javdekar to order a special round of test for students who missed due to train delay.

Hampi Express was scheduled to arrive in the morning, but was late by six hours. The South-Western Railway officials attributed the delay to the maintenance work, and claimed that the delay was not a surprise one but was notified in advance.


Interestingly quite a few tweets calling for the intervention of the Union Ministers came from people who identified them with prefix chowkidar, meaning they are either active BJP workers or party sympathisers. Some of them were very critical of the railways, too.

The harshest of the tweets came from JD(S)-Congress Coordination Committee chairman Siddaramaiah, who wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to “work properly” for the next few days in view of NEET tests. He wanted the PM to ensure the students who missed out got another chance to write the test.

One of his two tweets, addressed to the PM, said: “You pat your own back for others' achievements but will you also take the responsibility for your cabinet min' incapabilities. Hundreds of students in Karnataka may not be able to take up NEET because of delay in the train services."