Staff go for elections, why do students go for exams? Why are the paths difficult in the race for employment?”
- Young people lost their lives in road accidents; who will take responsibility?
- The unemployed are losing their lives in search of jobs.
- Displacement of candidates: Administrative insensitivity and deaths in Haryana in the name of CET
The CET exam held in Haryana sent 15 lakh candidates to centres 100-150 km away, creating immense mental, physical, and financial pressure. Many students died in road accidents and due to exhaustion. The question arises—should the transparency of the exam be at the cost of the lives of the candidates? Is the lack of administrative planning bigger than the lives of the youth? This article raises tough questions on this insensitive system and demands a responsible and humane examination system for the future.
Taking an exam is the most sensitive and decisive time in any youth’s life. This is the moment when the path opens to turn years of hard work and dreams into reality. But if the road to reach the exam centre itself becomes a struggle, then it is natural to raise questions on the fairness of that exam and the administrative preparations.
This is what happened in the CET (Common Eligibility Test) exam held in Haryana — when more than 15 lakh candidates from across the state were sent to take the exam 100 to 150 kilometres away from their homes. And that too when they were expecting the facility to take the exam in their district or city.
The Haryana government and HSSC (Haryana Staff Selection Commission) claimed to have conducted the exam in a ‘smooth and transparent’ manner. But who paid the price for that transparency? Students, who reached the exam centres from every corner of Haryana, sometimes in overcrowded road buses, and sometimes emptying their pockets in private vehicles. Many girls travelled overnight to take the 10 am exam, many rural youths travelled alone to cities for the first time in their lives, and some people could not even reach the exam centre. In such a situation, the question arises whether the administration does not realise that an exam is not just a paper, it is the hope of the entire life of the candidate.
Elections are held in Haryana every five years. Booth duty, monitoring of polling stations, security of EVMs – all this is done in them. Are employees not sent from one district to another? Has any voter ever been sent to cast his vote 100 kilometers away? No. Then why this insensitivity in exams? Is the youth not a priority of the administration? Does the government believe that the travel of an unemployed youth, his time, his pocket money, his preparation for the exam – all this has no value?
Youngsters who did not have the money to pay the fare had to borrow money from their family members. Some mortgaged their fields, while others withdrew their mother’s savings. Girls and disabled candidates not only had to face the trouble of travelling but also had to worry about accommodation, food, and safety. No one can remain mentally calm after a long journey. Performance in the exam directly depends on how the student is feeling mentally. Students whose centres were 150 km away had to leave a day before the exam. This directly affected sleep, food, and the continuity of studies.
When students download the admit card, they could have been given the option to choose the primary city of the exam centre, as is the case with many national exams. There are at least 5-10 government or private institutions in every district where the exam could have been conducted. Just like employees do duty in other districts during elections, teachers, supervisors and other staff could have been sent away. Students would have taken the exam in their district.
In such a situation, the question arises whether this was a well-planned scheme or a systemic failure. Does the administration not care about the struggles of the students? Is this not a process of breaking the morale of unemployed youth in the name of conducting exams? Does HSSC consider itself accountable or is just issuing a notice enough?
The leaders of Haryana did not show any special sensitivity on this issue. Whereas these students are the voters in the coming times and also the carriers of change. Political parties should have openly questioned the government on this issue. But unfortunately, the issue of unemployment has now been suppressed in the noise, and the test of employment has now become a test of the patience of the students.
During the Haryana CET exam, many such incidents came to light, which were not only sad but also exposed administrative negligence. In Jind, a student died in a road accident while he was going to the examination center on a motorcycle. In Bhiwani, a female candidate died in the hospital after her health deteriorated, the reason being fatigue, heat, and stress. In Rohtak, a student died of a heart attack while traveling in a bus. The family said that he had gone out without sleep since the previous night and had not even eaten food. Two candidates riding a bike collided with a truck on the Kaithal-Karnal highway and died on the spot. In Sirsa, two real brothers met with an accident while going to take the exam and lost their lives. In Rewari, a car full of candidates overturned, in which many students were injured.
These reports proved that wrong planning of examination centres was not just an inconvenience but an administrative mistake that came at the cost of lives.
Students have to travel a 100-150 km long distance, that too for a 10 am exam, at night. Tiredness and stress can directly lead to a heart attack or accidents. No arrangement for food and lodging, some students slept at the station, some at the bus stand, and some waited in the open. Road safety is completely ignored – no traffic plan or medical backup during such a big exam event.
Even if the government and administrative officials express condolences on these deaths, the question is – could these deaths not have been prevented? Couldn’t a better examination center system, district-wise organization, and transport arrangements have saved these lives?
The students did not die while chasing their dreams; it is the system that died, which kept watching insensitively.
Now the question arises – will HSSC be held accountable for these deaths? Will the criteria for determining exam centres be reviewed? Will any corrective measures be taken in the upcoming exams? If not, these deaths will become mere statistics, and in every next exam, a new candidate will keep losing their life in the hope of getting a job.
“Home District Preference” should be implemented in determining the exam center. Experienced officials of the education department should be included in the exam system. The model of the seating plan and staff deployment should be learned from the Election Commission. Permanent “exam center infrastructure” should be developed in every district. Feedback and suggestions should be taken from the candidates compulsorily. Traffic, medical, and security plans should be made before organizing every major exam.
It is heartening that candidates from many corners of Haryana have protested against this displacement model through social media, protests, and petitions. Now it is necessary that this protest takes an organisational form and the voice reaches the government that we are ready to take the exam, but will not mortgage our self-respect.
The government must remember that unemployed youth do not just apply for jobs, they are laying the foundation of the country’s future. If we tire them out by making them wander from door to door, then which system will the coming generations trust?
