4 min readNew Delhi IJul 20, 2022 10:35 AM IST
First published on: Jul 19, 2022 at 02:53 PM IST
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has formed a “fact-finding committee” to look into complaints that a female NEET candidate in Kerala was made to remove her innerwear before taking the medical entrance exam held on Sunday.
The committee, constituted by the Ministry of Education, has been tasked with ascertaining “all the facts about the incident on the spot from stakeholders present at the examination centre” at the time of the alleged incident and submit its report in four weeks. The three member committee includes Dr Sadhana Prashar, Senior Director at NTA, Shylaja O R Principal of Saraswathi Vidyalaya Arappura Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvanthapuram and Suchitra Shyjinth of Pragati Academy, Ernakulam.
“A Fact Finding Committee has been constituted by the NTA to ascertain the facts in detail. Further action will be taken based on the report of the Fact Finding Committee,” according to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Education.
Incidentally, the NTA had, in a statement issued Monday night, contested the charges, saying the the observers who were in charge of the examination centre did not report any such incident.On Tuesday, the Kerala Police registered a case in connection with the incident in the state’s Kollam district.
The complaint prompted Kerala’s Higher Education Minister Dr R Bindu to describe the incident as “highly deplorable”. She also wrote a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, which was mentioned in the statement issued by the Ministry of Education.
Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan, and many other public representatives from Kerala also met Pradhan and raised the issue. The National Commission for Women also took “serious note” of the incident, describing it as “shameful and outrageous to the modesty of young girls”.
NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma wrote to the NTA, seeking an independent inquiry into the allegations. The commission also wrote to DGP Kerala to conduct a fair investigation and submit an action taken report within three days.
A senior ministry official said that the NTA team is likely to travel to Kerala in connection with the probe.”The NTA holds three major entrances annually, of which the NEET is the largest with over 18 lakh registrations. This is an isolated incident but the ministry has taken it very seriously. NTA is sending a team to Kerala in this regard,” a senior official said.
In the complaint, the father of the candidate has alleged that “many students” who attended the exam at Mar Thoma Institute of Information and Technology at Ayur in Kollam were forced to remove their innerwear although this is not a requirement under norms mandated by the NTA, which conducts NEET.
Meanwhile, according to the NTA statement issued Monday night, after being alerted about the incident through media reports, the agency sought immediate comments from the exam centre’s superintendent, the independent observer as well as the city coordinator (NEET) of Kollam district.
“All three of them, among other things, have stated that they did not find any such incident happening in the centre. The candidate did take the examination. There was no representation/complaint to any one during or immediately after the examination. Nor has NTA received any email/complaint in this regard,” the statement said.
The centre superintendent dismissed the complaint as “fictitious”, while the city coordinator alleged it was made with “wrong intentions”. The observer said that he did not “directly observe any stripping of undergarments” as alleged, and that the student did not register any complaint with him even when she approached her.
The complaint prompted Kerala’s Higher Education Minister Dr R Bindu to describe the incident as “highly deplorable” Express photo/representational) 
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