24 hours ahead of the National Eligibility Entrance Examination (NEET) 2021, National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued an advisory to aspirants, urging them to not fall prey to unreliable news reports and claims. The “NEET 2021 paper leaked” scandal took Twitter by storm with students incessantly tweeting their views using #OperationNEET.
While the allegations of security breach has been dismissed by the agency, students continue to receive WhatsApp messages providing the download link for the leaked paper. However, this link can reportedly only be accessed after paying a certain amount of money.
Noticing these messages, NTA has advised students to “desist from trusting” such baseless messages on an unsecured platform. Such messages have the sole intention of targeting and fleecing vulnerable students. The exam is fully secured and the agency will take the needful actions against such activities. This reassurance was directly provided by Vineet Joshi, the Director General of NTA.
Last night, some students had requested the agency to postpone the NEET UG 2021 examination in light of these allegations. A few students also demanded a thorough investigation into this matter while imposing a stay order on the UG medical entrance exam. However, after NTA’s response, the matter has turned into water under the bridge.
Apart from this, Dharmendra Pradhan, Education Minister of India, had also written a letter addressed to the chief ministers (CMs) of all states, asking for their support to conduct the NEET UG 2021 examination. As per the existing schedule, the medical entrance exam is going to take place tomorrow, September 12, 2021, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. A record-breaking 16.14 lakh candidates across the country are expected to appear for the examination.
As per official reports, the exam will be conducted by following all the COVID-19 protocols issued by the central government. To safeguard the health and well-being of aspirants, a total of 3,858 exam centres have been allotted for this exam – double of the centres last year. Candidates have been allotted specific timings to reach the exam centre to enable staggered entry and avoid overcrowding.
Apart from these precautionary measures, the education ministry had recently written a letter requesting the states/UTs to permit mobility of candidates for the exam, in case there are any travel-restrictions. Candidates will be allowed to use public transported in restricted areas only after showing their NEET 2021 admit card. This is another reason why aspirants must carry their admit card to the exam centre.
