NEET 2021: Here's a list of all the major changes announced for 'Medical Entrance Test'

NEET 2021: NTA is accepting applications for NEET after a long wait of lakhs of aspirants for the Medical Entrance Test. Recently Education Minister announced the NEET dates on Twitter. He also did announcements about some of the major changes that have been made this time for the convenience of students. Here’s a look at all the changes that have been introduced this year.

NEET 2021 in 13 languages

For the first time, the medical entrance exam NEET-UG will be conducted in 13 languages. Two languages that have been added recently are Punjabi and Malayam. Along with English and Hindi, the NEET 2021 will also be held in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Punjabi. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan did this announcement on July 13th. Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted, "to cater to regional aspirations, number of languages being offered this year have been increased to 11 from 13 with the addition of Malayalam and Punjabi. The exam is already being conducted in the Tamil language."

NEET 2021 exam centres increased

With the aim of ensuring social distancing norms, the number of examination cities has been increased from 155 to 198. With an increase in the number of cities conducting exams, the number of examination centres will also witness an increase. For NEET 2020, there were 3862 centres. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "for the convenience of the students of Tamil Nadu, 4 new cities Chengalpet, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, and Tiruppur have been added for conducting NEET(UG)". He further tweeted, "The number of cities has increased to 18 from last year’s 14. The number of examination centres will also be increased." Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also said that a new exam centre has been established in Kuwait for the NEET. He considered it as a milestone to felicitate the Indian students in the middle east.

COVID-19 protocols for NEET exams

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that it is mandatory to maintain physical distancing at centres. In order to make this possible, the government decided to ramp up the number of cities where the examination will be conducted. The numbers have been increased by 43, earlier it was planned to have 155 centres which have now been increased to 198. NTA is expected to release guidelines that will be followed while sitting for exams in a few days. Union Minister while talking about COVID protocols said, "To ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols, face mask will be provided to all candidates at the centre. Staggered time slots during entry and exit, contactless registration, proper sanitisation, seating with social distancing etc. will also be ensured."