Last-minute centre change creates confusion, several students end up missing Slot 1 papers

Netaji Subhas University of Technology in Dwarka Sector 3 was among the venues in Delhi allotted for Slot 1 papers on July 15 when admit cards were issued to candidates on July 12.

However, the centre was changed to Delhi University’s North Campus. Some candidates who were aware of this change in centre said they had received a call on Thursday asking them to download their admit card once again — some said that they received this call in the afternoon while some say they received it after 8 pm. Others said they were informed by their schools on Thursday evening, while some said they found out as late as Friday morning when they checked their email.

At the North Campus centre, candidates who realised there was a centre change only after reaching NSUT rushed to reach far past the official closing time of 8.30 am. While candidates were allowed to enter till 9.30 am, those who arrived after that were unable to appear for their papers.

Bhoomi Khanna (18), a student of Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Laxmi Nagar, could not appear in her four papers scheduled for slot 1 because she only reached the DU centre at 9.35 am. “When I reached the NSUT centre, the guard told me that the centre had been changed to DU. In the confusion and panic of the moment, my mother and I took an auto to DU’s South Campus. There we realised that we had to go to North Campus and took another auto. When I reached, I was told that it’s too late. This is very wrong. The night before an exam a student studies and sleeps. They don’t keep checking their email or checking for changes in their admit card,” she said.

Another candidate, Lalita (17), a student of Government Girls Senior Secondary School No. 3 Kalkaji, hitched a ride to reach DU after she realised that she had shown up at the wrong place. She only reached DU at around 11 am. “I had three papers in the morning and those are gone but I have another 3 papers in the afternoon, so I have come here for those. I anyway felt so much pressure because I have six papers in one day, and this happening on top of that is a huge burden,” she said.

Parents who did manage to get their children to the DU centre on time after reaching NSUT said that it was a close race against time.

Ish Narang and his daughter Kanishka had reached NSUT at 8 am after travelling from their home in East Delhi by Metro. “We found out there that we had to be in DU and took the same auto back to the Metro station. While on the train, I realised that we wouldn’t reach on time at that pace and we got off at the Keerti Nagar Metro station and took an auto the rest of the way. No one imagines that an exam centre can be changed at such a last minute,” he said.

Deepak Goyal rushed his daughter Shivani all the way from NSUT to DU on his scooter. “I had to jump a few red lights. Thankfully we had reached NSUT very early, at 7.30 am, because it took us more than an hour to reach DU,” he said.