NEET medical entrance exam begins amid strict Covid-19 protocols in India

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) is being held on Sunday across the country amid stringent checks and protocols in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 15 lakh candidates have registered for the undergraduate exam. The NEET exam is being held days after the JEE (Main) was held across the country.

Originally scheduled for May 3, has been deferred twice due to Covid-19 first it was postponed to July 26 and then to September 13.

A man adjusts the facemask of his daughter (L) as she prepares to enter an examination centre. Strict instructions have been issued as to the dos and don'ts for the students. Wearing masks and bringing an identity card apart from the hall ticket were some of them.

Making hand sanitisers available at the entrance of the examination centre and inside the exam hall at all times, replacing the process of checking the admit cards of candidates with barcode readers, increasing the number of examination centres, alternate seating plans, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit are among the steps the NTA has taken. Above, candidates undergo a security check before entering an examination centre for the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET), during unlock 4.0, in Patna.

Students wear facemasks as they queue in New Delhi. In order to maintain social distancing, the NTA has increased the number of exam centres from originally-planned 2,546 to 3,843, while the number of candidates per room has been reduced from earlier 24 to 12.

A student’s (C) credentials are checked at the entrance of an examination centre in New Delhi. The candidates arrived at examination centres ahead of the NEET exam amid the coronavirus pandemic. While some of them were seen doing last minute revision.

Candidates have also been issued an advisory guiding them about the 'dos and don'ts' for proper social distancing. Above, students arrive at an examination centre to appear for the NEET exam in Bikaner.

Aspirants undergo thermal screening as they enter an examination centre in New Delhi. The National Testing Agency (NTA), the body organising the exam has put in place a raft of measures such as increasing the number of exam centres and reducing number of students in a room in view of the Covid-19.

The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the exam amid a spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases, saying a "precious year" of students cannot be wasted and life has to go on. Above, a worker checks the body temperature of a student in Amritsar.

Students reaching their examination centre via metro to appear for the NEET exam in Kolkata. The East Coast Railway started four special trains on Saturday and Sunday for the candidates appearing in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

The relaxation of lockdown will help the students coming from different parts of the states to reach the exam centres.

A candidate is guided towards a hand sanitizer dispenser machine as she arrives at an examination centre to appear in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in New Delhi.

An official checks the body temperature of a candidate wearing a face mask as a precaution against coronavirus before appearing for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test ( NEET) at an exam centre in Hyderabad. India's coronavirus cases are now the second-highest in the world and only behind the United States.

Students line up to enter an examination centre before taking the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-2020, one of the most competitive entrance exams for entry to top national Medical colleges, in Chennai.

Students stand on a social distancing marker at an examination centre for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-2020 in Chennai.