No writing assistant, visually challenged man turned away
BHARATPUR : An exam centre in Bharatpur refused a visually challenged candidate to take the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) as he did not have an amanuensis, a writing assistant, with him.
REET was conducted at centres across the state on Sunday.
Mohammad Nasir, the candidate, said that he was turned out as he did not have a writing assistant with him. “The centre, too, refused to provide one,” said Nasir, a research scholar of history at Aligarh Muslim University.
BP Srivastava, principal, Bharatpur Homoeopathic College, said that Nasir was not given an amanuensis as he did not inform the centre two days in advance. According to exam rules, a visually challenged candidate should inform the centre about the requirement for a writing assistant two days before the test.
“There were no instructions about informing the centre beforehand on the admit card,” said Nasir, who came to Bharatpur, with three other visually challenged candidates from Aligarh.
The three were able to sit for the exam as their respective centres provided them with writing assistants.
One among them, Danish Naseem, said that his exam centre provided him a writing hand without any hassle. “The exam centre is responsible for providing an amanuensis to the visually challenged candidate,” said Bavita Sharma, principal of Aravali Secondary School.
OP Jain, additional district collector and nodal officer of REET, said that visually challenged candidates need to communicate the requirement for an amanuensis two days before the exam. “All instructions are given on the website of Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan,” he added.