Bengaluru, April 30 (IANS) The Karnataka government announced on Thursday that it would hold a re-examination for candidates who faced trouble due to the implementation of dress code guidelines while appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) in the state.
It can be recalled that instances of students being asked to remove janue, hijab and nose rings were reported and created a huge controversy.
The government clarified that the removal of janeu and hijab was a misuse of power by staffers at the examination centres and also initiated action against them.
Minister for Higher Education M.C. Sudhakar has made the announcement in this regard.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, he stated, “Four students have faced difficulty in this regard at the CET examination centres. In this background, it has been decided to hold a re-examination for those students only.”
It was reported that confusion occurred at two examination centres in Bengaluru and Chikkaballapur over issues related to the sacred thread (janivara, janue) and hijab during the CET examination.
Following this, affected candidates had requested a re-examination.
Responding to the issue, the minister said that a re-examination would be conducted only for those candidates who were affected.
He stated that awarding grace marks would not be appropriate in such cases, and therefore, a re-test would be the better option.
“We will hold discussions and take a final decision. Similar confusion had occurred last year as well, and it has been decided that conducting a re-examination would be appropriate this time,” he said.
The issue gained further attention after a controversy erupted over an incident in which a candidate’s sacred thread was allegedly cut during the CET exam.
In addition, a case has come to light in Chikkaballapur where a candidate wearing a hijab was reportedly denied permission to appear for the exam.
Minister Sudhakar noted that the district administration has submitted a report on the matter.
He noted that similar incidents had occurred last year, following which the responsibility of enforcing the dress code was assigned to individual colleges.
Despite this, such incidents have recurred this year.
“Once the matter came to our notice, it was taken seriously. In Bengaluru, the District Commissioner has recommended cancelling the exam centre. In Chikkaballapur, the report has suggested that the government take appropriate action, and necessary steps will be taken accordingly,” he said.
–IANS
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