Internet snapped, Kashmir students fail to apply for NEET

Tribune News Service

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Srinagar, December 2

On Monday, the National Testing Agency issued forms for the National Eligibility Entrance Examination (NEET), a highly competitive test through which science students secure admission in medical colleges across India.

However, in Kashmir, where Internet lockdown has been imposed for the last four months, the aspirants are a worried lot.

“We studied whatever little we could in such hard circumstances but now, in the absence of the Internet, we do not know how to fill the forms,” said 17-year-old Irtiza who has been preparing for the exam for the last one year.

“We could not go to tuitions and it was only at home that we tried to study but now the bigger worry is the Internet,” she said.

The NEET forms were issued on Monday and the last date for completing the application form is December 31. The students said they were yet to apply for the exam and it took hours together to complete the formalities online.

“There is a long list of instructions that we need to read. How will thousands of students from all districts of Kashmir fill the details without the Internet? Our career is at stake,” said another student, Asif Ahmad, from Pulwama.

The Internet services were blocked in Kashmir on the midnight of August 5 when the government planned to abrogate Article 370. It has been nearly four months but there is no word from the government about the restoration of the services. Students have appealed to the authorities to restore the services.

“If the government does not restore the Internet services, thousands of students will lose the opportunity to apply for NEET. The form cannot be filled at any help centre where you have a limited time. It takes a lot of time to read instructions and upload documents,” the students said.