Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 87.7% candidates appeared in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for the undergraduate (UG) level in the state capital on Sunday. NEET is a medical entrance examination.
“Of the 36,000 candidates who were registered to appear in the examination in Lucknow, 31,584 were present. Thus, 87.7% candidates took the exam at 72 centres in the state capital,” said a district administration official.
The candidates expressed satisfaction with the social distancing measures taken at various examination centres. They said only 9-12 candidates were made to sit in a room and sufficient distance was maintained between them. Candidates were given masks at the entrance and invigilators regularly sanitized their hands.
Vaishnavi Prasad, a class 12 passout from La Martiniere Girls’ College, Lucknow, said, “Before the exam, I was concerned about my health. But the measures at the exam centre were incredible. Adequate distance was maintained. I was really happy with the arrangements.”
Vaishnavi also said, “The paper was balanced. It was a good mix of easy and tricky questions. Those who came with better preparation were comfortable with the question paper.”
{{/usCountry}}Vaishnavi also said, “The paper was balanced. It was a good mix of easy and tricky questions. Those who came with better preparation were comfortable with the question paper.”
{{/usCountry}}Hari Om, a candidate from Sitapur, said, “The question paper was not very difficult.” Tahira Bano said it was a moderate paper, adding that the physics portion was tougher than chemistry and botany. Both Hari Om and Tahira said they were pleased with the social distancing protocol followed at the examination centre.
District magistrate Abhishek Prakash visited the examination centres to see the progress of medical entrance examination. He went to Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan Public School, Gomtinagar and Maharaja Agrasen Public School. He asked the centre superintendents to ensure Covid-19 measures were in place.
A total of 1,66,582 candidates from Uttar Pradesh—the second highest after Maharashtra’s 2,28,914— registered to appear in NEET that was held at 320 centres spread across the state on Sunday.
Candidates were relieved that the examination was finally conducted after being postponed twice because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Sumit Kumar Tripathi, who obtained 99.75% marks in his ISC exam, said, “We can now breathe easy.”
Another candidate, Harsh Tewari, said, “We can now relax a little. It was tough to stay focused on studies during the lockdown period.”
Centre’s national testing agency (NTA), conducted the exam at 3,843 centres across India in which nearly 15.97 lakh candidates were registered to appear. Last year, NEET was held at 188 centres in UP and 2,546 centres across India. This year, the number of candidates per room was reduced from the earlier 24 to 12 in the wake of the Covid pandemic.