NEET 2021 Postponement? Latest updates on entrance exam dates, application forms

With just about 45 days left for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - UG (NEET) 2021 exam, students are a worried lot as the National Testing Agency is yet to release the application forms. 
Speculations are also rife that the NEET 2021 might get postponed from its scheduled August 1 date amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEET is a pen-paper-based examination and over 15 lakh students, seeking admission to undergraduate medical and dental programmes, appear for the NEET examination every year. NEET application forms are usually out at least 60 days ahead of the exams.

A section of students, politicians and academicians are demanding the cancelation of the medical entrance exams. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had recently demanded the cancelation of NEET 2021. In a letter addressed to PM, Stalin said, “conducting national level entrance exams for any professional course would be detrimental to the health and well-being of students."

A section of students has taken to social media raising demand for postponement of NEET 2021 till October. 

However, it is to be noted that both NEET and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) were held amid the pandemic last year as well, and therefore it is most likely that the NTA will conduct them this year as well. The Union government and NTA had issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to conduct examinations amid the pandemic. Alternate seating plan, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit were among the steps the NTA had taken.

Earlier the Ministry of Education had said that there will be a change in the exam pattern in NEET on lines of JEE Main. NEET students can be expected to be given relaxations and internal choices, however, there is no clarity in terms of the detailed exam pattern.

Among changes, this year, the government has decided to allot five MBBS seats to children of COVID-warriors through NEET counseling.

Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has also drawn a complete blueprint for the NEET 2021. The NEET 2021 exams - earlier scheduled to be held in early August -  could be held in the last week of August or in the first week of September. The entire examination is in pen-paper mode. 

Meanwhile, a high-level committee of the Madras High Court would be analysing the impact of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on aspirants from the socially disadvantaged sections in medical admissions, the Tamil Nadu government said.

The panel led by retired judge AK Rajan would study the data related to medical admissions in the state and make necessary recommendations within a month to safeguard the interests of students from the backward sections, the state government added.