HRD to reconsider conducting NEET twice a year

The decision to conduct NEET twice a year may be reconsidered by the HRD ministry considering the suggestions from the Health Ministry. The Press Trust of India issued a report in which the HRD ministry was addressed by the Health Ministry and said that this decision to conduct NEET twice a year would result in extra pressure on the medical students. On July 30, Prakash Javadekar, HRD minister during the Parliament question hour clarified that the engineering and medical exams will not be conducted in an online mode instead a computer-based mode will be used for conducting the tests. The Students will have to answer the already downloaded answer sheets using a computer mouse. Concerns were raised by the Health Ministry for the students living in rural areas who may have to face problems if the exams are conducted online. The HRD minister also said that during the first transitional year, the students will be also allowed to give the test using paper answer sheets. The concerns over NEET exam arose after it was decided last month by the HRD ministry to conduct the NEET exam twice a year alongside the JEE Main exam. It was also decided that the newly formed National Testing Agency (NTA) will be responsible for conducting the NEET and JEE (Main) tests. The ministry has also announced the tentative dates for the exams, according to which, the NEET-UG is scheduled for February 2019 with a repeat in May 2019, reported PTI.