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Hyderabad: Anxious, nervous, stressed, and optimistic were just some of the emotions going through the parents standing outside St Ann’s College in Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad, as students crammed last-minute material before writing the NEET (UG) exam for the second time on Sunday, June 21.

For Noorjahan, who travelled an hour for her daughter’s exam, the stress was not restricted to students. Speaking to Siasat.com, she said that after the paper leak and the subsequent re-examination announcement, she felt extreme sadness. “Takleef hui sunke (It was painful to hear). Because these children suffered through so much to write the first one, health problems, no sleep, we as parents got depressed. It was a lot.”

Expressing frustration on her daughter’s behalf, she said they had to travel twice the distance as the last time, as she had come from Moinbagh. “The exam centre was in Nampally at the Exhibition Grounds. But now they marked it in Mehdipatnam. We had to spend double the amount.”

“They are not seeing all this when conducting the exams,” Noorjahan added. The ones who are responsible, the people controlling it from above, that power is not right, she said, questioning how the paper could be leaked in the first place. “Pura India ka time waste kare (The whole of India’s time was wasted),” she said.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), formerly known as the All India Pre-Medical Test, was initially conducted on May 3 across hundreds of cities in India and abroad, with over 22 lakh medical aspirants participating. It was cancelled on May 12, after a chemistry teacher alleged that the paper had been leaked prior to the exam. What followed was an extensive investigation with the authorities uncovering a multi-state syndicate network that had reportedly distributed leaked questions under the guise of “guess papers” weeks before the examination.

The Central Bureau of Investigation said the leak’s source was traced back to the National Testing Agency (NTA) paper-setting process in Maharashtra. According to CBI, the questions were allegedly accessed while the paper was being prepared and later circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram across multiple states.

Several people have since been arrested while the investigation continues.

The examination on Sunday will be held from 2.00 PM to 5.15 PM, with the provision of an additional 15 minutes this time.

The examination is being conducted across 5,440 centres in 551 cities in India and 14 centres abroad. It is being conducted in English and 12 Indian languages. According to NTA, more than 95,000 examination rooms have been equipped with CCTV surveillance.

Momentum of studying broken

Meanwhile, the stress and burden of rewriting the exam not only fell on the students but parents as well, who watched their children dedicate the past few years to an exam which could decide what path their future would take.

“Their whole momentum of studying broke. Hundred per cent tooth chuka tha momentum (The momentum broke hundred per cent), it is unfair,” said Rupa. Her son, Jayesh, had already gone inside the college for screening by 12 pm, even as the gates closed by 1:30 pm. The campus was under tight security with dozens of traffic personnel and police officers deployed to maintain security.

“Rather than external security like this,” Rupa said, pointing at the officers, “There should be stricter internal security. More measures should be taken to control the entire process; it should be fairer.” A native of Chhattisgarh, Rupa and her family had to rush back to Hyderabad after the retest was announced.

“I know my son was not as confident as last time, even though he showed no stress. When they finish the exam, their entire schedule becomes free, and they are in picnic mode. So telling them to go back to that mentality is hard,” she said.

No hope in the test, have to look for other options

Another parent, Venkata Ramana, was in Chhattisgarh when the announcement came. “My wife’s family is from there, so we went there for the holidays after Pallavi (his daughter) was done with NEET. Within two days, we had to come back,” he said, adding that their vacation was cut short.

“She is confident (about retest), I am not worried about that, but it feels like a waste because we no longer have hope in the system.” Pallavi had rushed inside the examination centre after a quick goodbye, while his father waited outside.

When asked what he will do till 5 pm, when the examination gets over, Ramana said, “Just walk around here and there. What other option do we have?” He travelled from Kukatpally in a cab.

Many flagged their child’s security as a major concern, hesitating to return home because they worried about their safety, particularly parents of female students. “Now, because she is a girl, I worry more, so I have to stay back,” Noorjahan had said. “There is no proper arrangement for us parents, though. They treat us like animals.”

Others like Naziya Begum believed that as parents, they can’t show distress as it affects the students’ performance. “Abhi Kismat me jo hai so hua, kuch nahi karsakte (Whatever was planned in fate happened, we are helpless). So I just told my daughter to give it her all, and we can deal with the result when it comes.”