After KCET row, NEET candidates asked to remove ‘janivara' in Karnataka
Days after students appearing for the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) were controversially asked to remove janivara (sacred thread), a similar row has erupted in connection with Sunday's National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
A few candidates taking NEET in the afternoon session were allegedly asked to remove their janivara before entering the exam hall at St Mary's School in Kalaburagi. Soon after the matter came to light, members from various communities, including Brahmin subsects Smarta and Vaishnava, as well as Lingayat and Dalit groups, protested demanding the suspension of the official responsible, stating that janivara, a symbol of spiritual commitment, posed no threat to exam integrity.
Sudhir Patil told reporters that his son Sripad Patil returned from the exam centre visibly upset, saying officials had insisted he remove the sacred thread before being allowed into the hall. Acting on his father's advice, Sripad removed the janivara and proceeded to take the exam. Sripad, a resident of Bet Balkunda village in Bidar district's Basavakalyan taluk, had travelled to Kalaburagi for the exam.
Speaking to reporters, Sripad expressed frustration, revealing that he had been so anxious after the incident that he mistakenly wrote the wrong registration number on his answer sheet. He also called for a re-examination.
Officials clarified that two outsourced staff members, Ganesh and Sharanagouda from the Revanasidda agency, had been tasked with frisking candidates and instructed not to permit any metal objects or threads. They said the staff members did not explicitly ask Sripad to remove his janivara, suggesting the boy may have misunderstood.
The Sanatana Yuva Shakti Trust, Akhila Bharat Madhwa Maha Parishat, and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad backed the protest.
Kalaburagi South MLA Allamaprabhu Patil visited the protesters and urged the deputy commissioner and police commissioner over the phone to investigate and hold the officials accountable.
The district administration has ordered an inquiry, including a review of CCTV footage.
As approximately 1.4 lakh students took NEET UG 2025 at 381 centres in Karnataka, logistical challenges also led to controversies, with several candidates noting that approximately 8-10 of the three-hour exam were lost to administrative tasks like thumb impressions, signatures, and Aadhaar verification.
A candidate who appeared for the exam at DRDO Complex in Bengaluru 's CV Raman Nagar said, 'The 180-minute duration for 180 questions was already tight with a lengthy paper, but we lost 15-20 minutes to administrative tasks. Signatures and thumb impressions took 2-3 minutes, followed by Aadhaar verification and videorecording of the centre ate up seven-eight minutes—equivalent to seven-eight questions. This led to distraction and interrupted my examination. All this, supposed to be done by 2 pm, started only during the examination.'
Another candidate, who took the exam at Kendriya Vidyalaya at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said, 'All the miscellaneous formalities like signatures, writing father's and mother's name among others started after the examination, leading to a time crunch. I almost got an answer wrong because of this distraction.'
The two candidates wished to be anonymous.
The government to had to issue guidelines for officials to respect cultural practices after a similar controversy erupted in Bidar and Shivamogga during the KCET on April 16. Later the Railway Recruitment Board sought to ban sacred threads and mangalsutras from exam halls but withdrew the decision after it drew flak.
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