JEE Main 2020, NEET 2020 exam: National Testing Agency clarifies exams not being postponed

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on August 21 clarified that the JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020 examinations will be held as per schedule in September.

Even as the Supreme Court had on August 17 dismissed pleas to direct NTA to postpone JEE Main and NEET due to the coronavirus pandemic, petitions were being sent to the government to postpone it.

NTA said all safety precautions will be followed at the examination centres where tests will be held.

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— National Testing Agency (@DG_NTA) August 21, 2020

Following this, Supreme Court (SC) advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava had written to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) seeking the postponement of JEE Main 2020, JEE Advanced 2020 and NEET 2020 exam dates.

Social media was abuzz with rumours that the government has decided to postpone the examinations. However, the NTA statement clarified that these examinations are being held as per the September schedule.

JEE Main is the entrance exam for admission into engineering institutes while NEET is for entry into medical colleges. NTA is the testing body for these examinations.

JEE Main 2020 is to be held online from September 1 to 6, while NEET 2020 for admission to undergraduate medical courses is slated to be held offline on September 13 across 161 exam centres in India.

NTA said in its statement that 8,58,273 candidates will be sitting for JEE Main 2020. Of this, 6,49,223 candidates have downloaded their admit cards for the examinations so far.

While 99.07 percent candidates have been offered their preferred centre cities, NTA added that 142 candidates have requested for a change in the allotted city. The body said it is considering these requests.

When it comes to NEET (UG) 2020, a total of 15,97,433 candidates have registered for this examination. NTA said the admit cards will be released shortly and that 99.87 percent candidates will be allotted their preferred city.