Assam: Girl in shorts made to wrap curtain to appear in exam

GUWAHATI: A 19-year-old girl, who appeared in the entrance test for admission into the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) in Jorhat, was kept waiting outside for wearing a pair of shorts. As her father scrambled to get a pair of trousers for her to change into, an invigilator made her wrap a curtain around her waist like a skirt and then permitted her to write the exam.
Jublee Tamuli and her father Babul Tamuli had travelled for nearly three hours to reach Tezpur from Biswanath Chariali, a distance of about 70km.She had been to Tezpur a few days before to appear in NEET, where she had also worn shorts but did not face such a situation.
Her father told PTI on Friday that after the invigilator at Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (GIPS) told her that she will not be allowed to appear for the exam wearing shorts, she took up the matter with the authorities there and insisted no dress code was mentioned on the admit card.
“I had all the credentials and documents, including my Aadhaar and admit cards, but the invigilator asked me to stand aside. When I asked why, they said people wearing short dresses is not allowed inside the examination hall, despite the fact that there was no dress code mentioned in the admit card (unlike NEET, where long sleeves and shoes are not allowed),” said Jublee.
“When I told them there was nothing mentioned about a dress code in the admit card, they said it was common sense and I should have known,” she added. “I asked my father to get me a pair of trousers. As it was taking time for him to return and the exam was about to start, a woman invigilator gave me a curtain to warp around and sit for the test,” Jublee said, adding that the incident affected her deeply.
AAU registrar Tapan Kumar Gohain said the university has set up a three-member committee to look into the “unfortunate” incident and submit a report within 10 days. “There was no dress code for the exam conducted by the AAU. The exam was outsourced to a Bangalore-based company and they selected the centres for the exam. If the people at the centre had contacted us, the incident would not have happened,” he said.
Jublee, meanwhile, has also written to the state government seeking justice.