NTA says NEET, JEE (Main) to be held on schedule; releases detailed guidelines for exam

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has said that it will conduct the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main) 2020 and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 as per schedule in September. JEE Mains will be held between 1 and 6 September and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NEET UG will be conducted on 13 September. The NTA has also created a detailed protocol on how to conduct the examination. As per a notification by NTA, candidates will be given staggered time slots for reporting at the exam centre to avoid crowding. Both, staff members and candidates will have to undergo temperature scans. Anyone displaying known COVID-19 symptoms will be placed in separate isolation rooms. Candidates are allowed to only carry a mask, gloves, transparent water bottle, 50 ml hand sanitizer and exam related documents as instructed. The notification further states that body frisking will not be done. Candidates will be frisked using metal detector with a long handle to ensure that the detector does not come in physical contact with any candidate. Furthermore, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signal presence will be checked inside the examination rooms and centre. For document verification, a table roughly 3 feet wide should be kept in a hall where candidates will show the documents to exam functionaries without any physical contact. This will be followed by manual attendance with signature, but wearing gloves is mandatory during the process. The NTA guidelines also state that gloves and masks should be disposed in a separate bin which should be kept inside the examination centre but outside examination hall. As per a report in Hindustan Times, a government official has said that the NTA had consulted top medical professionals before drafting the guidelines. The official stated that reputed professionals like Dr GC Khilnani, former head of pulmonary medine in AIIMS, Delhi, Dr Arvind Kumar, Head of Chest Surgery, and Dr Ashok Kumar Jariyal, professor of physiology are among experts that NTA has been relying on. There were apprehensions  regarding the exam due to coronavirus pandemic, with a section of students requesting for postponement. Even BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged the Centre to hold the exams post Diwali. However, the  NTA clarified that the engineering and medical undergraduate entrance exams will be conducted on schedule following the Supreme Court order. In a statement NTA said there is absolutely no justification in the prayer made for the postponement of the examination related to NEET UG-2020 as well as JEE (Main) April 2020. “In our opinion, though there is pandemic situation, but ultimately life has to go and the career of the students cannot be put on peril for long and full academic year cannot be wasted,” the statement said. It further added that the examination is going to be held with due precaution and it will not be postponed. Earlier this week the Supreme Court dismissed the plea seeking cancellation of both entrance examinations. The apex court said that the postponement of exams will result in students losing an academic year and will put their careers in peril.