The National Eligibility cum Entrance test (NEET) for postgraduate students, which was scheduled to be held on April 18, has been postponed, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan announced on Thursday. The decision comes amid outcry from students who feared that the exam centres act as spreading grounds for the novel coronavirus.
“The new date for the NEET PG exam will be announced at a later date, the minister said. “In light of the surge in #COVID19 cases,GoI has decided to postpone #NEETPG2021 exam which was earlier scheduled to be held on Apr 18. Next date to be decided later. Decision has been taken keeping well being of our young medical students in mind,” the minister tweeted.
Several junior doctors aspiring to attempt the exam this year had urged authorities to postpone the exam amid rising COVID-19 cases. Several medical students used #postponeneetpg and other similar hashtags on Twitter to urge the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to postpone the exams. The medical students demanded that the exam be held after a few weeks, after the peak of COVID-19 infections is crossed.
In light of the surge in #COVID19 cases,GoI has decided to postpone #NEETPG2021 exam which was earlier scheduled to be held on Apr 18
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) April 15, 2021
Next date to be decided later
Decision has been taken keeping wellbeing of our young medical students in mind.@PMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA #NEETPG
A group of students also moved a petition in the Supreme Court asking that the exams be postponed, a petition has been reportedly filed by Farsulla Shafi and others through their lawyer Pallavi Pratap and it cites the cancellation of CBSE board exams to make a case for the postponement of NEET.
In Tamil Nadu, DMK chief MK Stalin on Thursday also called for the exam to be cancelled. “CBSE exams have now got cancelled due to the second wave of #COVID19. With increasing cases and fatalities, when our doctors are fighting hard against all odds, is this the right time to hold National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for PG courses?” he said on Twitter.
CBSE exams have now got cancelled due to the second wave of #COVID19. With increasing cases and fatalities, when our doctors are fighting hard against all odds, is this the right time to hold National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for PG courses?@PMOIndia@drharshvardhan pic.twitter.com/ALMtqnLXLA
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) April 15, 2021
The Union government on Wednesday announced that the CBSE board exams are cancelled for Class 10 and postponed for Class 12 students due to the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country. The Class 10 exams were scheduled to be held from May 4 to June 7, 2021, and Class 12 exams were scheduled to be conducted from May 4 to June 15, 2021. The decision was announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and other top officials. Several politicians had called for cancellation of the exams prior to the meeting, owing to a massive surge of COVID-19 cases across the country.