Major reasons for NEET 2021 exam postponement

Why NEET 2021 will be postponed - The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) will be conducted on August 1, 2021, by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Since various boards and entrance exams have been cancelled and postponed, the medical aspirants are requesting the authorities to postpone NEET 2021 exam due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the nation.

Candidates are also waiting for an update on NEET application form release date, which was supposed to be released on May 1, and was kept in abeyance. A delay in the NEET registration process is one of the possible reasons for NEET 2021 exam postponement.

Also, there are PTI reports saying that the NEET exam may be postponed to September. Besides the delay in the release of NEET form date by NTA, aspirants are worried over the number of COVID-19 cases in the country. And that can be a major reason due to which NEET 2021 can be postponed till the normalcy resumes. In this article, Careers360 brings to you the major reasons to postpone the NEET UG medical entrance exam.

As per the PTI reports, NEET 2021 is likely to be ‘pushed to September.’ The NTA has not yet started the pre-exam events such as registration process, correction window facility and issuance of admit cards. And, completing this process within one month seems a bit arduous task for NTA.

Possible reasons on why NEET-UG 2021 will be postponed

Here are some of the reasons which may lead to the postponement of NEET 2021.

Delay in NEET registration process

With the announcement of NEET exam date 2021, the notice also mentions that the NEET application form along with the detailed information bulletin will be available shortly on the official website - neet.nta.nic.in. However, there is no further update on when the NEET application form will be released?

A delay in NEET 2021 registration leads to a question of how will NTA manage to complete the application process in one month? With the application forms, NTA will be responsible for releasing NEET bulletin, providing correct window facility, and issuance of NEET admit cards.

Usually, the application form for the NEET exam is released 5-6 months prior to the examination date to give sufficient time to aspirants for the correction window, downloading the admit card or any other pre-exam event. Last year, NEET registration commenced on December 2, 2019, while the exam was conducted on September 13, 2020.

Trends on NEET application form release date

To understand the time-span between the NEET registration and exam date, below is the table representing the year-wise release of application form and exam date.

NEET registration year-wise trends

COVID-19 situation in the country

Considering the number of COVID-19 cases in India, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and various state governments have cancelled Class 12 board exams. Also, it has been reportedly said that as per the experts, a third wave of Coronavirus will strike the country within next two months, which will be around August.

Several state governments have proposed to conduct the NEET exam after the vaccination of the test takers. Till then, as per the reports, NEET 2021 may be postponed to September. However, the ministry of education is cogitating over conducting the NEET UG 2021 and final decision is yet to be taken after reviewing COVID situation in the country.

Last year, six ministers from the opposition ruled states moved to the Supreme Court seeking postponement of the NEET entrance exam. The medical entrance exam was postponed twice. NEET was scheduled to be held on May 3, which was postponed to July 26 and was finally conducted on September 13.

Students requesting to postpone NEET 2021

Meanwhile, medical aspirants took to Twitter requesting the NTA and the education minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, to postpone NEET entrance exam till October. Here are some of the recent tweets.

A user requested the education minister and prime minister Narendra Modi to double think before taking the decision.

Postpone the neet exam till october
We are in the beginning of 3rd wave
So double think when you take a decision#PostponeNEETUGtillOctober #postponeneetUG2021 #neet2021 #NEETUG @DrRPNishank @PMOIndia

— K.D.AMBI (@NathanAmbigai) June 28, 2021

Another user urged the Delhi CM to help medical aspirants to postpone NEET 2021 as there are 48 cases of Delta+ (plus).

#postponeneetUG2021 @DrRPNishank @DG_NTA @PMOIndia please postpone neet ug 2021as there are 48 cases of "Delta+" And students appearing in neet 2021 are the future doctors if they get affected then who will be the responsible?.how will they serve the nation. Help-@ArvindKejriwal

— Reema Singh (@reemasingh1975) June 28, 2021

“Modiji please postpone NEET UG exam till October” requested a NEET candidate.

#PostponeNEETUGtillOctober#postponeneetUG2021 #PostponeNEETUGtillOctober

Modi ji please postpone NEET UG EXAM till October🙏@DrRPNishank @DG_NTA @narendramodi @PMOIndia @SCofInd @EduMinOfIndia @rashtrapatibhvn

— Tanya Singh (@tanya_singh2199) June 28, 2021

An aspirant requested the authorities to postpone NEET 2021 as many students have not been vaccinated.

#postponeneetUG2021 #postponeneetUG2021tilloctober @DG_NTA @DrRPNishank @PMOIndia @cbseindia29 @AmitShah
Sir i request you please postpone the NEET UG 2021 till October because many students have to get vaccinated, and this is not the right situation to conduct the exam.

— Reema Singh (@reemasingh1975) June 28, 2021

Questioning the authorities, a medical aspirant tweeted that, “Sir you have cancelled CBSE Class 12 exams (July) because it is impossible to vaccinate all students in short period, so why can’t you postpone NEET UG till mid October.”

#PostponeNEETUGtillOctober #NoExamUntilVaccination @DrRPNishank @PMOIndia @DG_NTA @narendramodi @EduMinOfIndia
SIR,YOU HAD CANCELLED CBSE CLASS 12TH EXAMS (JULY) BCOZ IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO VACCINATE ALL STUDENTS IN SHORT PERIOD, SO WHY CAN'T YOU POSTPONE NEET UG TILL MID OCTOBER. pic.twitter.com/QYdnM6mEf8

— Abhishikta Patra (@Abhishe08451335) June 28, 2021

Requesting the education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ to understand the situation and announce NEET exam date at the earliest.

Please sir, for God sake understand us and our situation
And give us update on Neet exam date please please please!!!!!!!!!!!!
🙏🙏🙏😞 #PostponeNEETUGtillOctober @DrRPNishank

— rao (@BVRRao3) June 28, 2021

NEET 2021 exam

However, the ministry of education is still contemplating conducting the NEET UG entrance exam, while the decision has not been taken yet. NEET 2021 will be conducted for admission to 83,072 MBBS, 26,949 BDS, 52,720 AYUSH and 603 BVSc & AH seats. From the year 2021, NEET UG scores may be utilised for BSc Nursing and BSc Life Sciences admissions.