NEET UG 2021: Online petition to NEET UG 2021: Online petition to postpone exam gets over 15,000 signatures

As the clamour for postponing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2021 grows, over 15,000 students have signed a petition on change.org  for delaying the examination. Students have demanded that the entrance test be shifted to October.

The petition asks the Centre to reconsider its decision of holding NEET UG 2021 on 12 September.

As per the petition, students have demanded the deferment of the NEET UG 2021 to October since the exam is scheduled close to several other entrance tests, including the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET), Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), and All India Entrance Examination for Admission (AIEEA) UG papers.

The petition stated that if the JEE is scheduled for 3 October and their academic session can be managed, NEET UG should be deferred by a month as well.

Writing that aspirants “don’t have multiple attempts like JEE main,” with NEET being the only entrance test, the exam should be deferred for the betterment of the students. Reasoning that since medical colleges would start their academic session in February, a delay of one month in holding the exam would not affect the overall schedule.

The petition has also said, since states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand experienced heavy flooding, the internet connectivity was hampered in these areas. This has led to medical aspirants being unable to complete the NEET UG 2021 application.

Candidates have been demanding the postponement of the exam for a while now. Hashtags like #ShiftNEETUG2021, #PostponeNEETUGtillOctober and #PostponeNEETUG have been trending on social media as students try to make their voices heard.

Neeraj Kundan, the President of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the youth wing of the Congress party, has also asked the Centre to defer the exam.

Wrote a letter to Hon'ble education minister Shri @dpradhanbjp ji requesting to reschedule the dates of #NEETUG2021. There are many other important exams (with different pattern & syllabus) scheduled nearby NEET UG . @DG_NTA should reconsider their decision.#shiftNEETUG2021 pic.twitter.com/fzGlz1f95m

— Neeraj Kundan (@Neerajkundan) August 28, 2021

Despite repeated requests from the applicants, the NEET-UG is scheduled to take place on 12 September from 2 pm to 5 pm. Admit cards for the examination will be out on 9 September.