Maharashtra govt postpones all CETs, including MHT CET 2020, due to COVID-19; new dates to be declared later

The Maharashtra government has announced that all the upcoming CET exams conducted by State Common Entrance Test Cell have been deferred in view of the coronavirus pandemic. State minister of higher and technical education Uday Samant shared the government’s decision on Twitter. He said that the exams have been postponed keeping in mind the health of candidates. The minister added that the new dates would be declared later. The exams which have been postponed include MHT CET 2020, MH CET law and MAH MBA CET.

महाराष्ट CET च्या माध्यमातून उच्च व तंत्र शिक्षण विभागांशी संबंधित विविध व्यावसायिक विषयांच्या प्रवेश परीक्षा घेण्यात येतात. COVID 19 चा वाढता प्रादुर्भाव बघता विद्यार्थ्यांच्या आरोग्याच्या दृष्टीने या सर्व परीक्षा पुढे ढकलण्यात येत आहेत. नवीन तारखा भविष्यात सांगण्यात येतील.

— Uday Samant (@samant_uday) June 22, 2020

Among all these exams, MHT CET is one of the major tests held by the CET Cell. Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MHT CET) is conducted for admission to engineering and pharmacy courses in the state’s colleges. According to The Times of India, more than five lakh students take MHT CET every year. MHT CET 2020 was earlier scheduled to take place from 4 July to 5 August. The exam is held separately for PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) and PCB (Physics, Chemistry and Biology). It will now be held at tehsil or block level to maintain safety norms. Earlier, this exam took place at district level. The CET Cell last month again started the application process for MHT CET 2020 on 26 May. The application window closed on 1 June. It had earlier allowed candidates who applied for MHT CET to change their exam centres from 5 to 10 June. This decision was taken after the CET Cell received requests from candidates to change their district preferences.