States have announced measures to help those who take the exam. (Figurative)
New Delhi:
The National Cum Entry Eligibility Test (NEET), for admission to medical courses across the country, will be held today. States have announced special measures, including easing restrictions and transportation. NEET’s conduct amid the Covid pandemic was questioned by some students and opposition-ruled states, who argued that taking these exams at this time would endanger the lives of students. Last month, the Supreme Court was asked to defer both NEET and JEE (for admission to IIT), but the court said the exams could be conducted with strict contact restrictions and social distancing. The JEE has already been done and the results have been declared. On Wednesday, the court declined to hear further petitions about NEET’s postponement.
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As directed by the high court and the center, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is in charge of conducting competitive entrance tests, has published an extensive list of guidelines for the exam. These include staggered presentation times and seating to ensure social distancing. Students should also wear face masks and gloves and bring their own hand sanitizer and a bottle of water.
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There will be “isolation rooms” for candidates whose body temperature is above the prescribed limit. The NTA has also sought a self-declaration saying that candidates do not have any symptoms or suffer from Covid or have not been in contact with a Covid positive person.
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Almost 2.3 lakh of students have registered for NEET in Maharashtra alone, which is the state hardest hit by the Covid pandemic. Around 1.67 lakh of students will take the exam in Uttar Pradesh, while Karnataka has around 1.19 lakh of students, Tamil Nadu has 1.18 lakh and Kerala 1.16 lakh. Together these states represent over 8.57 lakh of NEET applicants. Overall, more than 16 lakh students have registered for this exam.
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States have announced measures to help those who take the exam. Bengal has canceled the Covid shutdown scheduled for the day and will operate special Metro services in Kolkata for students. Punjab has lifted its weekend curfew, although non-essential services will remain closed. The two states, combined, have nearly 90,000 applicants.
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Odisha has announced free transportation and accommodation for candidates who need to travel long distances to take the exam. Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have also promised assistance to students traveling to sit for the NEET exam. In Mumbai, the railways will operate special trains to transport candidates and their parents. In Bihar there will also be special trains, 20 of them.
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Two NEET candidates from Tamil Nadu died by suicide on Saturday, state police said. One student was the son of a Dharmapuri scrap metal dealer, who took the exam last year but failed. The other was a 19-year-old girl from Madurai who was on the waiting list after taking the exam last year. On Wednesday, a third student, a 19-year-old from the Ariyalur State District, died by suicide after failing the exam on two previous attempts.
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Opposition leaders, including Congressional MP Rahul Gandhi, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray, and DMK chief MK Stalin, had called on the government to reconsider the possibility of taking the JEE and NEET exams during the pandemic. Top opposition ministers, including Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, who said states were being “bulldozed” in the name of federalism, approached the high court but were rejected.
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On September 1, the first day of JEE, UP’s Lucknow attendance rate was below 60 percent. It was about 25 percent in Bengal, Ms. Banerjee claimed, and several students complained of difficulties traveling to their test centers. In Gujarat, about 45 percent of students were absent on the first day, the state government said.
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On Saturday night, with hours for the exam, #BanNEET and #NEETisSocial_Injustice started trending on Twitter.
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Last month, the Supreme Court said that “student careers cannot be jeopardized” and rejected a request by 11 students to postpone both JEE and NEET. “Life cannot be stopped. We have to move on with safeguards and everything … Are students ready to waste an entire year? Covid can continue for another year,” the court said.
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