COVID-19 norms go for a toss outside NEET centres in city
new delhi: As thousands of students in Delhi on Sunday appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to qualify for medical programmes, areas outside exam centres in the city threw COVID-19 precautions to the wind as they waited for their children to finish their exam.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) finally held the qualifying examination for MBBS and BDS aspirants in the country today after deferring it twice due to the coronavirus pandemic. While full safety precautions were followed inside the test centres as per candidates and the NTA, the scene immediately outside undermined any safety measures taken by the authority for the exams.
A long line of private cars was parked outside Mayur Vihar's Ahlcon International School as hundreds of parents and guardians waited for their ward to finish writing the NEET UG exam. Although most people wore masks, there was no social distancing being followed outside the venue. In fact, the street outside was so crowded that even e-rickshaw drivers found it difficult to operate.
Candidates said that all safety methods had been followed. Reeti, who wrote her 3rd attempt this year, said "proper social distancing and hygiene were maintained. There were only 12 candidates in my room and we were sitting quite far apart".
Reeti was apprehensive about appearing for the NEET exam in the middle of a pandemic with daily coronavirus cases on a steady rise. However, when the Naraina resident took the metro this morning to reach her exam centre, she said she was pleasantly surprised by the strict safety rules being followed. "However, I don't know what the situation is for students who can't travel to their exam centres," she said.
Not just in Delhi's Mayur Vihar but in Greater Noida's Pari Chowk test centre too, most candidates appeared to have travelled to their exam centres in private vehicles or hired cabs. A resident of Bhiwani, Haryana who had brought his granddaughter to the centre in a private car said that they didn't face any problems in commuting and was happy that the exam was being held since he didn't want the students' efforts going in vain.
Ayush, a resident of Shamli (near Muzzafarnagar) said that he had hired a taxi to take himself and another friend to two different test centres in Delhi. Although managing the commute had been a little taxing, he wanted to appear for the exam since he had been preparing for it for some time now.
Urvashi, another candidate from Kalkaji, said that while it was irresponsible to ask lakhs of candidates to appear in close proximity at exam centres, it was well managed and was better than having to let this year go to waste.
Dr Manjula, and Astha Anand, both Delhi residents, were waiting to pick their daughter up after the exam. "The NTA is taking as many precautions as it can, but even we need to be responsible for our own safety", they said gesturing at the crowd outside.
