JEE Main, NEET to be held as per schedule in September The National Testing Agency (NTA) is firm on holding the JEE (Main) and NEET next month as per schedule even as Rajya Sabha members Subramanian Swamy and Vivek Tankha have written to the Union government seeking their postponement.
JEE (Main) is scheduled to be held over six days – from September 1 to September 6. NEET, meant for undergraduate medical programmes, is scheduled for September 13.
According to ministry sources, the government is keen on sticking to the schedule, especially since the country’s top court has endorsed its decision. This week the Supreme Court had refused to entertain a plea for further postponement of the entrance tests. “Moreover, we are receiving representations from parents and students urging us to go ahead with the exams as several postponements have led to further stress,” a ministry official said.
Subsequently, on Friday evening, the NTA issued a press statement citing the Supreme Court order. The agency also said that 6,49,223 out of the 8,58,273 candidates registered for JEE (Main) have already downloaded their admit cards. It added that candidates have been given ample opportunity to change their examination centres and over 99% of such requests were accommodated.
Apart from NEET and JEE (Main), another set of entrance tests has been flagged by students. The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), the Integrated Programme in Management Admission Test (IPMAT) and Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET) are all scheduled on September 7. The Education Ministry is learned to have received representations from parents and students on this.
When reached for comment, IIM Indore director Himanshi Rai told The Indian Express that the institute had announced the revised date for IPMAT on July 27, and at that time no other entrance test was scheduled for September 7. “We were very careful to avoid a clash with other exams. The CLAT announcement came after ours on August 10,” Rai said. IIM-Indore is conducting IPMAT this year, and about 20,000 candidates are registered to appear for the test on September 7.
According to sources in the Consortium of National Law Universities that conducts CLAT, a change in the date is not being considered. CLAT is the gateway exam for admission to 22 National Law Universities in the country.
NTA, which announced that it would conduct DUET from September 6 to 11, will reconsider holding the exam on September 7. Agency director-general Vineet Joshi said that students’ interests will not be hurt and the matter of overlap of dates is under “active” consideration.