NEET 2017: Student Body of Maharashtra Seeks Increase in Number of Exam Centres

Several members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have written to Girish Mahajan, Health Education Minister to increase the number of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) examination centres so that students hailing from the rural areas of Maharashtra are benefitted. The six cities where the examination will he be held are - Pune, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nashik, Nagpur and Thane.

In their letter to Mahajan, the students have demanded at least one centre in each district of the state. Rohit Chandode, a student representative said that students from the far off towns will have to travel a long distance to reach their exam centres. This will put them in several difficulties such as financial burden, exam stress, and loss of valuable time.

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The examination is scheduled to be held on 7th May 2017. This year, NEET replaces the common entrance test of Maharashtra for admissions to medical colleges. Around 2.5 lakh students are expected to take the test this year. But Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has allocated centres in six cities only.

The minister on his part said that he would write to CBSE. The board allowed only four centres in the state for NEET last year. After the intervention of the Directorate of Medical Education, CBSE increased the number of cities to six.

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Pravin Shinghare, Director, DMER said that CBSE has to control all the centres with strict measures. CBSE has deliberately kept few examination centres. Enhancing more centres means to increase the risk of question paper leak and therefore make huge arrangements of security.