The Odisha government on Friday said there will be no lockdown or shutdown in cities that will be conducting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) from August 30 to September 7 and from September 12 and September 14. The exams NEET and JEE are for undergraduate medical and engineering aspirants respectively.
An order stated that safety norms such as physical distancing, personal hygiene, mask wearing etc have to be followed inside the examination centres in view of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic adding that the district authority will ensure the implementation of these norms outside the premises.
Earlier chief minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocating the postponement of the exams in view of the Covid-19 crisis and floods which has gripped several districts in the state.
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The National Testing Agency had issued a directive to conduct NEET on September 13 and JEE from September 1-6.
Six opposition states namely West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan on Friday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its August 17 order to allow the conduction of exams.
{{/usCountry}}Six opposition states namely West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan on Friday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its August 17 order to allow the conduction of exams.
{{/usCountry}}The apex court on August 17 rejected the petition to postpone NEET and JEE entrance exams by saying that life must go on and students can’t lose a precious year due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Odisha chief secretary Asit Tripathy said that the state government has decided to provide free transportation and accommodation to the 37,000 candidates appearing for both exams in the state.
Also read| NEET, JEE 2020: Odisha govt to make transportation and accommodation provisions for 37000 candidates
“The government will provide buses to ferry candidates from their home town to the designated entrance venues. But the students have to apply for the government facilities by August 31,” Tripathy added.
Odisha on Friday logged 3,252 new coronavirus cases, 2503 recoveries and 14 deaths, which have taken the state’s tally to 97,920. The active cases have now mounted to 29,571, the state’s health department said.
(With inputs from ANI)