Current affairs

NEET 2021: Union Minister reveals the exam date...Will NEET be held in Tamil Nadu?

By alagu, 12 July, 2021
NEET, Tamilnadu, COVID-19

Amid the Union government's warning that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is still rampant across the country, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has on Monday announced that the 2021 NEET examination for UG will be held on September 12. The announcement of conducting the national entrance exam for medical studies has come when there has been a wave of objections and demands to defer the national exam.  

Dharmendra Pradhan, the new Education Minister, has taken to Twitter on Monday and said that NEET (UG) 2021 will be held on September 12th across the country following the Covid-19 protocols. The application process will begin at 5 pm on Tuesday. He wrote, "The NEET (UG) 2021 will be held on 12th September 2021 across the country following COVID-19 protocols. The application process will begin from 5 pm tomorrow through the NTA website(s)." 

He further wrote, "In order to ensure social distancing norms, the number of cities where the examination will be conducted has been increased from 155 to 198. The number of examination centres will also be increased from the 3862 centres used in 2020." Pradhan said that a face mask will be provided to all candidates at the exam centres to ensure that the Covid protocols and guidelines are adhered to. 

"To ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols, a face mask will be provided to all candidates at the centre. Staggered time slots during entry and exit, contactless registration, proper sanitization, seating with social distancing, etc. will also be ensured", the Union Education Minister added. Earlier, the national exam was scheduled to be held on August 1st and it has now been deferred in light of the pandemic spread. However, the students had said that conducting the physical examination in light of the pandemic is unfair.  

Several students had also suggested that the NEET UG exam should be conducted twice or thrice this year, rather than conducting it in one shot. However, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has denied such suggestions and clarified that the national entrance exam for medical studies will be conducted only once this year. As the date for NEET has been announced,  the students are gearing up their preparations for the examination to pursue their medical studies. 

The process in the NEET 2021 application form comprises five stages - NEET registration, filling of application, uploading of documents including scanned photographs, mark sheets, and certificates, payment of fee, and print out of the confirmation page. The students can start their process of registering for the exam from 5 pm on Tuesday. 

Will NEET be held in Tamil Nadu?

The state will have an answer possibly by Tuesday. The Tamil Nadu government has formed a commission under former High Court Justice AK Rajan to study the impact of the NEET on the poor and marginalized students. The commission is currently facing a legal battle with the BJP moving to the Madras High Court demanding to revoke the committee. With a vague picture, the students in Tamil Nadu have been perplexed over whether the national exam will be conducted in the state. 

Addressing the reporters after the announcement of the NEET exam date, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said, "As the High Court is going to hear the case on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu government will announce its decision on conducting the exams later. At the same time, the government continues to give coaching for the NEET exam and the students will be receiving the coaching for NEET until the state government has got an exemption in conducting the exam." By citing that the Tamil Nadu government's stand is to get an exemption for the NEET, Subramanian has asked the students to be prepared to appear for the national entrance exam. n

 

You may also like

Comments