NTA Officials confirm no change in NEET 2021 exams, candidates cry '#justice' on Twitter

Also Read: PostponeNEET trends again: Aspirants cite clash of several exams

As per the latest media report in India TV, although students wanted deferment of the exam, the NTA has recently confirmed that the exam is going to be held on September 12, as scheduled. NTA DG Vineet Joshi told IndiaTV, "There is no direct clash of NEET with CBSE board exams, it will be held as scheduled on September 12."

Further referring to the demands regarding the increase in the number of attempts, the NTA official said, "The decision regarding multiple attempts in NEET will be taken by Health Ministry. As of now, there is no plan to increase the attempts of the medical entrance."

The Union Education Ministry has also opposed postponing the exam and the officials have mentioned that any change in the exam date would delay the exam by 60 to 70 days due to logistical issues and this may cause an indefinite delay in the exam due to other uncertainties.

While commenting on the matter, a senior official with the ministry of education told the Times of India, "NEET-UG is a high stake exam and it involves logistics of a large scale. Security is another paramount issue. Moreover, this is a single-day exam, and therefore given the number of candidates NTA takes close to 90 days for preparation. The earlier date has been shifted to September and was announced well in advance. Any further change in date will mean another at least 60 days of preparation. Moreover, given the unprecedented situation, this is the best time for conducting the exams and also the admissions could be conducted without much delay."

"Given the uncertainties, any delay and subsequent unforeseen scenario may delay the exams indefinitely," added the official.

However, this stand of NTA and the Union Education Ministry didn't go down well with the aspirants as they have started trending #JusticeforNEETUGAspirants on Twitter. On Saturday, NSUI has also written to the Union Education Minister regarding the matter. 

Pointing out that for appearing in the NEET entrance exam, students need to prepare for months, NSUI in its letter mentioned how close to the date for NEET several other examinations have been scheduled as well. ICAR exam would be held on September 7,8,9, Physics CBSE is on September 9, Physics MP Board is on September 11, Maths CBSE Board is on September 13, COMEDK has been scheduled on September 14 and OJEE has been scheduled to be held in between September 6 and September 18. 

"The problem here is that there are many other exams schedule around 12th September, which are subjective in nature, which may break the concentration of a student," NSUI pointed out in its letter.

Demanding that the exam must be delayed, an user wrote on Twitter, "Even Supreme Court has said exams must not clash and enough time must be given #JusticeForNEETUGAspirants."

Tripura Pradesh Youth Congress also has extended its support to the students as it mentioned in a Tweet, "Students have multiple exams in September and it is not possible for them to prepare for all of those together, as each exam pattern is different. They are already suffering from anxiety conducting exams will create extra pressure on them."

"After giving CBSE Physics exam or ICAR exam on 9th September students will return home at night or 10th Sept morning then they have to download admit card and rush to NEET UG exam city on that day. Isn't it injustice?" wrote NEET UG Students Association.

This year, a record number of 16.1 lakh candidates are set to appear for the examination, which is the qualifying examination for the candidates wishing to pursue their education in MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BSMS, BUMS, BHMS, B.Sc. (Nursing), and B.Sc.(Life Sciences) courses.

Also Read: Numbers of NEET 2021 Candidates Cross 16 Lakh mark