NEET 2020 is to be held in September 13 (Representational image)JEE Main, NEET 2020 HIGHLIGHTS: The National Testing Agency released the admit card of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) today. Over 15.97 lakh candidates who had registered to appear in the UG medical entrance exam can download the hall ticket through the website- ntaneet.nic.in. NEET will be held on September 13.
Last week, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea seeking the postponement of the entrance exam. However, several political parties leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded to postpone the exams further taking note of the rise in COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency on Tuesday informed the entrance exams will be held following all safety measures. JEE (Main) will be held in over six days – from September 1 to 6 and the hall ticket is available to download at the website- jeemain.nta.nic.in.
READ | JEE Main, NEET 2020 to be conducted on students’ demand: Ramesh Pokhriyal
For NEET (UG), the option to change centre cities was given five times, and about 95,000 candidates availed the same. Out of the total of 15,97,433 candidates, 99.87 per cent candidates are being given the first choice of their preferences of the city, claims NTA.
NEET 2020 admit card to be released today
The Congress on Friday launched a campaign against the government's decision to hold NEET and JEE exams during the coronavirus pandemic, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi urging people to speak up for the safety of students. "Unite your voice with lakhs of suffering students. #SpeakUpFor StudentSafety...Let's make the government listen to the students," he said on Twitter," Gandhi tweeted
Six ministers of opposition ruled states move SC, seek review of its order permitting Centre to conduct NEET, JEE exams this year. The Congress also launched campaign against holding of NEET, JEE; Rahul asks people to speak up for students' safety.
The Supreme Court on Friday said that states and universities cannot promote students without holding final year exams by September 30, as mentioned in the University Grant Commission guidelines. The court, however, added that they can approach UGC to seek an extension of deadline for holding exams.
The UGC had earlier said that the July 6 guidelines are based on recommendations of experts and have been made after due deliberation and it is wrong to claim that it will not be possible to conduct the final examinations in terms of the guidelines.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday urged Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to consider postponing NEET and JEE examinations in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to Pokhriyal, the chief minister said there is a risk of spread of infection and with public transport not operating in the state, many candidates would face difficulties in reaching examination centres, as reported by PTI.
Ten lakh masks, 10 lakh pairs of gloves, 1,300 infrared thermometer guns, 6,600 litres of hand sanitiser and an equal amount of disinfectant liquid, 6,600 sponges, 3,300 spray bottles and 3,300 cleaning staff — all at an additional cost of almost Rs 13 crore.
This is the blueprint being adopted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) at 660 test sites for JEE (Main), the first national-level entrance examination since the Covid outbreak.
Over 17 lakh candidates have already downloaded their admit cards for JEE and NEET, and this shows that the students want the exams to be conducted at any cost, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said on Thursday. The minister's comments come against the backdrop of a growing chorus for postponement of the medical and engineering entrance exams in view of spike in COVID-19 cases.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday wrote an open letter opposing the central government's decision to hold NEET and JEE exams amid the coronavirus pandemic. He said the BJP-led government at the Centre is unnecessarily putting the students' health at risk.
"Funny and illogical things are being spread by the BJP that when people can come out for other work, why can't they give exams? It has forgotten that people are moving out in compulsion and even those who want to stay at home to save themselves are now being forced to come out of their homes in the name of examinations," Yadav said in the letter.
Registering his objection t holding the NEET and JEE examinations, former Karnataka Chie Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday sought to know should th students "pledge their lives to take the exams. Siddaramaiah joined the bandwagon of the oppositio parties seeking that the two important examinations fo admission to medical and engineering courses in premie institutes of India be deferred.
In a series of tweets, the Karnataka Congres Legislature Party leader said, "Despite opposition fro everyone, @BJP4India govt is adamant on conducting NEET JEE,", as reported by PTI
Over 150 academicians from various universities in India and abroad have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that delaying the medical and engineering entrance exams -- JEE-Mains and NEET -- any further will mean compromising the future of students.
IIT-Roorkee Director Ajit K Chaturvedi said, 'The JEE exams should be held as per their schedule in September 2020. A large number of students and their parents want the exams to be conducted and looking forward to the wait to end now. The pandemic has already disrupted the academic plans of many students and institutions and we don’t see the pandemic going away anytime soon. We should not let this be a zero academic year as it might have consequences on the bright future of several students. Students and their parents need to have faith in the system.'
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone and requested him to postpone NEET and JEE exams, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and the flood situation in the state, a senior official said.
Patnaik, during his conversation with the prime minister, explained that Odisha is in the grip of a pandemic as well as flood, and students might face difficulties in appearing for the examinations, the official at the chief minister's office told reporters, as reported by PTI.
Over 14 lakh admit cards for the medical and engineering entrance exams -- NEET and JEE -- were downloaded after the National Testing Agency (NTA) released them on Wednesday
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Wednesday directed the state Advocate General to coordinate with his counterparts in other opposition-ruled states for filing a collective review petition in the Supreme Court, to seek deferment of the NEET-JEE exams.
With the Centre under fire for pushing to conduct JEE (Main) and NEET next month, Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare told The Indian Express Wednesday that postponing these entrance tests till after Diwali would wash out an entire semester and affect fresh admissions over the next few years.
“The exams were first to be held in April, but were postponed to July. When a large number of students tweeted for further delay, they (exams) were pushed to September," Amit Khare said
Members of the Congress’ youth wing staged a protest near the Shastri Bhawan here on Wednesday, demanding postponement of the JEE and NEET exams in view of the coronavirus pandemic. Several protesters, who tried to enter the Education ministry, housed at Shastri Bhawan, to submit a memorandum, were detained by the police. The IYC demands that the Centre should postpone these examinations in the interest of the students.... read more
As far as JEE Main is concerned, the exam is now conducted multiple times in a year. In case some students cannot write the JEE Main this time, they can take the exam after 6 months again. I don’t see any reason for a concern, wrote Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi director V Ramgopal Rao. "As if COVID is not enough, this uncertainty about exam dates is further adding to the stress levels of students,” he wrote...read more
Over four lakh admit cards for medical entrance exam NEET were downloaded within three hours on Wednesday, sources told news agency PTI. The National Testing Agency (NTA) released the admit cards for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) at 12 pm on Wednesday. Amid rising clamour for postponement of the crucial exams in view of rising COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Education (MoE) officials had reiterated on Tuesday that the exams will be conducted as per schedule in September. Increasing the number of examination centres, alternate seating plan, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit are among the steps the NTA will take for safely conducting NEET and JEE next month.
Rahul Gandhi said the NEET-JEE aspirants are worried about their health and future due to concerns about coronavirus infection and floods in Assam and Bihar. "NEET-JEE aspirants are worried about their health and future. They have genuine concerns of: fear of Covid19 infection, transport and lodging during pandemic and flood-mayhem in Assam and Bihar. GOI must listen to all stakeholders and find an acceptable solution," he said.
The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked all opposition chief ministers to jointly approach the Supreme Court for postponement of JEE and NEET exams in view of Covid-19. In a virtual meeting with the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other political party leaders, she said till the time is not favourable, the government should not conduct the exams.
The Tamil Nadu government has requested the Centre to scrap NEET or at least exempt students from the state from attending that exam if they were held, Minister K A Sengottaiyan said on Wednesday...read more
Meanwhile, parents associations are also demanding postponement of the exam
The protest against the conduct of the JEE and NEET has found support in Swedish child activist Greta Thunberg. Taking to Twitter, the child activist wrote, “It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID”. Read the complete story here
“I appeal to the government to not be adamant on admission only through these exams. We are not at all saying that the year be declared as a zero academic year. We are not in favour of admitting students just like that as we will need quality doctors and engineers but banking upon only a three hour exam and expecting it to work like a magic wand in identifying talent, is a very conservative thought,” said Sisodia..read more
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister who also holds state’s Education Minister portfolio Manish Sisodia asked, “So many top leaders have got infected with COVID-19 despite taking all precautions. So, how can we take the risk of sending 28 lakh students to exam centre and be assured that they will not be infected."...read more
In total 15,97,433 candidates have registered for this year's NEET which is higher than last year when 15,19,375 candidates had registered. The number of exams centres too have been increased from 2546 last year to 3842. This year, candidates were given a longer window by extending the application deadline. Further, NEET has also been mandatory for Indian students aspiring to practice medicine abroad.
Record of all exam functionaries will be maintained in the system for future reference and traceability Invigilator records are maintained in the system through staff verification processes Name and number of other staff such as housekeeping, security guards, etc. will be maintained in a separate digital format as provided by NTA by the Centre Superintendent.
For NEET 2020, the NTA had allowed students a window to apply for a change in the city of appearing for the exam, This was done as many students vacated their hostels and colleges and came back to home amid the pandemic. As per the data provided by NTA, a total of 95,000 candidates had applied for a change in the exam city and they are given the city of first preference.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to do the needful to allow students who want to take the exam to come in Vande Bharat Mission flights....read more
NTA claims to have written to the states governments to extend support in local movement of candidates so that they are able to reach their exam centres on time. "The NTA assures all candidates a safe environment for tests and solicits cooperation from the candidates and their parents in following the standard operating procedures," it said in an official statement.
On completion of the exam, the candidates should be permitted to move out in an orderly manner – One candidate at a time. The gloves and masks should be disposed of in a pedal push covered bin at the Examination Centre and outside the examination room/hall only. Volunteers will be present along the exit path to ensure an orderly movement of candidates, claims NTA.
NTA claims to have given the city of the first choice to 99 per cent of students. Further, the number of Examination Centers have also been increased from 2546 to 3843. In order to ensure proper social distancing inside the examination halls, the number of candidates per room has been reduced from earlier 24 to 12, as per NTA. A total of 15.97 lakh candidates have registered to appear for NEET 2020.
NEET (UG) – 2020 is a Pen & Paper-based test, to be answered on the specially designed machine gradable sheet using Ball Point Pen. It will be held for a duration of three hours. Students will have to answer 180 questions for 720 marks. Each question carries four marks. For each incorrect answer, one mark will be deducted from the total score. To clear the test, candidates need at least 50 percentile marks.
Step 1: Go to neetnta.nic.in
Step 2: Click on admit card in left-hand box
Step 3: You will be redirected to a new page
Step 4: Log-in using details
Step 5: Admit card will appear, download
Candidates will be permitted to carry only these items with them into the examination hall -
-- Mask on face
-- Gloves on hand
-- Personal transparent water bottle
-- Personal small hand sanitizer (50 ml)
-- Exam related documents as instructed (Admit Card, ID card, etc)
Step 1: Candidates report in batches from 11:00 A.M onwards
Step 2: At the entry of the registration room their body temperature is recorded through thermal gun.
Step 3: If the temperature (< 37.4°C/99.4°F) , they move to frisking personnel for frisking
Step 4: If the temperature is (> 37.4°C/99.4°F), they will be taken to the Isolation Room. All processes of frisking and document verification will be done after a period of 15-20 minutes. In this time their temperature may become even normal, if not they will be allowed to take the examination alone in a separate room
Step 5: Candidates display Admit card, Valid Govt ID proof, PwD certificate(if PwD candidate), Scribe undertaking (if applicable in proforma given in Information Bulletin) to Invigilator on duty across the table.
Step 6: After due verification, invigilator checks seat allocation chart & direct them to their examination room as per roll number
Step 7: Invigilator on duty outside the registertaion room ensures that students enter registration room in batches of 10 (first) and then 5, when first 5 leave . After leaving he/she directs Candidates to their examination room.
Seating Plan will allow candidates to sit at a safe distance from each other as per social distancing norms. Staggered Time Slot for the candidates reporting at the examination centres – to be printed as “Slot (time)” such as 11.00 A.M. -11.30 A.M. A hyperlink to the location of the centre so that candidate may verify the location of the centre in advance by clicking on the link (when a candidate clicks the Centre details).
The director of IIT-Delhi in a Facebook post has said that the exams should be held amid precautions. "Personally, I am for conducting these examinations by taking all precautions and following social distancing norms. Lockdown is not a solution to COVID. Lockdown was needed to prepare ourselves better. We cannot be perpetually in lockdown mode. COVID is not going to go away for another 6 months to one year. We all need to get used to this new normal. The earlier we realize that, the better it is for all of us. The last postponement of exams definitely helped us prepare well now," he wrote. IIT-Delhi is conducting JEE Advanced this year.
The NEET admit card for nearly 16 lakh candidates is expected to be released today. The NTA in its latest notice issued yesterday late evening stated that while the JEE Main admit card has been released that of NEET will be out "shortly". As per the norm, the admit cards are released about 15 days prior to the exam.
After being postponed twice, the medical entrance examination - NEET will be held on September 13. The date of conducting the exam was debated in the Supreme Court as well but the court ruled in favour of holding the exams amid strict precautionary measures.