New Delhi: With the Supreme Court Monday rejecting a plea demanding a further postponement of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Main and National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts these exams, has come up with instructions to be followed by candidates when they write their papers.
According to the instructions, those appearing for JEE-Main, scheduled in the first week of September, will have to submit a self-declaration form along with a photograph, saying they have not tested positive for Covid-19 and have not had any symptoms like fever, dry cough or difficulty in breathing in the recent days.
This form will have to be submitted at the examination centre after it is verified by an exam centre officer and signed by the candidate on the spot.
The NTA uploaded these instructions on their official website late Monday evening and all candidates appearing for the exam have to follow the guidelines mandatorily.
“The candidates are advised to follow the instructions and the advisory in letter and spirit,” the NTA instructions said.
A similar set of instructions is also likely to be issued for the NEET candidates soon.
The NTA stated that the admit card will be of four pages this time, with one page dedicated to the undertaking form.
“On the day of the examination, the candidate has to also bring to the exam centre, the undertaking given on the Admit Card at Page-1 (duly filled in, except his/her signature which he/she will be required to do in the presence of Invigilator). This Undertaking is in addition to the one filled online at the time of downloading the Admit Card,” the notice on the NTA’s website read.
“Considering the prevailing Covid-19 condition, the NTA has made all efforts for smooth conduct of the examination. The students as well as their parents/guardians are also requested to cooperate with NTA for successful conduct of the examination in a safe and healthy environment by sincerely following the instructions and advisories,” the notice further read, urging people to be cautious.
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Exam dates
JEE-Main is scheduled to be held from 1-6 September, while NEET is scheduled on 13 September. Owing to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country, students have been demanding delaying the exam, which has already been postponed twice.
The plea, rejected by the Supreme Court, had urged the top court to conduct the exam only when “normalcy is restored”.
“Conducting the aforesaid examination across India at such perilous time, is nothing else but putting lives of lakhs of young students (including petitioners herein) at utmost risk and danger of disease and death. The best recourse at this stage can be to wait for some more time, let Covid-19 crisis subside and then only conduct these exams, in order to save the lives of the students and their parents,” the plea filed through advocate Alakh Alok Srivastav read.
The Supreme Court rejected the plea, saying that “precious years of students cannot be wasted and life has to go on”.
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