No transport, candidates from dists fail to turn up for BHU entrance test

Dwaipayan Ghosh & Subhojyoti Kanjilal / TNN / Updated: Aug 28, 2020, 14:32 IST

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Examinees from outside the city who had registered for the Banaras Hindu University’s mass communication online entrance test could not appear for it on Thursday due to the absence of transport on a day the state observed a complete lockdown even though cops in Kolkata allowed 80-odd students from the city to reach the examination centres after checking their credentials.

No transport, candidates from dists fail to turn up for BHU entrance test

Candidates at Gitabitan in New Town, the centre for Banaras Hindu University mass communication online entrance examination on Thursday

KOLKATA: Examinees from outside the city who had registered for the Banaras Hindu University’s mass communication online entrance test could not appear for it on Thursday due to the absence of transport on a day the state observed a complete lockdown even though cops in Kolkata allowed 80-odd students from the city to reach the examination centres after checking their credentials.

Pratibha Singh from Parnasree in Behala said she had left home around 5.30 am in a cab that her father had booked a day before. A student of a Bhowanipore college, she reached the exam centre by 6.30 am. “We were stopped once at Chingrighata. But they saw the admit card and let us go. All other officers on the way merely asked for the admit card to be produced,” recalled Singh.
There were 40 mass communication seats at BHU and she could not afford to miss the exam. “In a way, with so few candidates turning up, social distancing was never an issue,” said her father.

Shatadru Banerjee of Shibpur had left as early as 5.20 am.
“The cops were giving last minute instructions to trucks before the 6 am deadline and we got caught in that jam for close to 40 minutes. But I was at the centre by 7.10 am. My friend from Asansol was keen to take the exam. But he could not make it. This was even after BHU sent us messages a day in advance and assured us that everything had been sorted with the local administration,” said Banerjee.
But not all were as lucky. Sources said several students from Bandel, Asansol and other towns in the state who were also slated to appear missed the examination because they could not travel.

Kolkata and Bidhannagar police said the online exam — held at Gitabitan in New Town — saw candidates turn up only from Kolkata and its immediate suburbs. “Most candidates wrote ‘on exam duty’ in vehicles. Admit cards acted as their pass,” said an officer.
On Thursday — the month’s second last total lockdown day — cops prosecuted more than 260 people within the first six hours.

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