SC declines plea on holding NEET abroad, asks students to come via Vande Bharat Mission

As the debate over conducting NEET, JEE exams continues, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to pass direction to the Central government to hold the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate (UG) 2020 examination in Gulf countries. However, the apex court asked the government to allow students to come via Vande Bharat Mission flights to give the exams.

The apex court was hearing plea filed by parents of nearly 4,000 NEET (UG) candidates, who sought to alternatively postpone the examination until the Coronavirus pandemic normalises. Meanwhile, The Central government, under the Vande Bharat Mission, has permitted Indian citizens, including overseas citizens of India, to come to India by special flights, the affidavit has added while seeking dismissal of the plea.

The top court further directed guidelines asserting that the quarantine norms are mandatory for students who would come from the Middle East countries to give exam but allowed petitioners to approach State authorities to seek relaxation. The bench headed by L Nageswara Rao said the exam will be offline and the students who fly in will have to maintain the 14 days quarantine in view of public health.

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Centre's arrangement for NEET and JEE (Main)

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released admit cards of JEE (Main) exams which are scheduled for September 1 to September 6, 2020. To date, out of a total of 8,58,273 candidates, 6,49,223 candidates have downloaded their admit cards. Out of the total candidates, 99.07% of candidates have been given the first choice of their preference and only 120 candidates have requested a change in centre cities allotted to them, stated Centre. 

Moreover, NTA had provided the option to candidates of JEE (Main) to change their centre cities five times, and 63931 candidates are availing the same. Similarly, NTA provided the same option for NEET (UG) candidates - about 95,000 candidates have availed the same, stated Centre. Out of the total of 15,97,433 candidates, 99.87 % of candidates were given the choice of their preferred city 

Currently, there are 31,06,348 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 23,38,035 patients have recovered while 57,542 fatalities have been reported. At present, there are 7,10,771 active cases. With 57,469 COVID-19 patients getting cured in the last 24 hours, the country's recovery rate stands at nearly 75%.

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(Photo Credit: PTI)