Over 1.6 lakh candidates appeared for NEET at over 3,800 centres across India

New Delhi: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) — Postgraduate was held at 679 centres in 270 cities of the country on September 11, 2021, with 1.6 lakh candidates appearing for it following Covid-19 protocols. The exam was rescheduled twice in view of Covid-19.

Last year, over 85 per cent of registered candidates had appeared for the exam amid the Covid pandemic. "Over 95 per cent of candidates appeared in the exam conducted today following all Covid protocols," a senior official said.

The 13 languages in which the test was conducted this year are Hindi, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Urdu and English. Among the languages, Punjabi and Malayalam were the new additions. In the first, the exam was also held at a centre each in Dubai and Kuwait.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), which was earlier scheduled on August 1, was postponed to September 12. The number of cities where the examination is conducted was increased from 155 to 202. The number of examination centres was also be increased from 3,862 used in 2020.

Last year, it was conducted on September 13 amid strict precautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 13.66 lakh candidates had appeared in the exam of whom 7,71,500 qualified. The uniform entrance examination is for admission to MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BHMS and other undergraduate medical courses in approved medical, dental, AYUSH and other institutions.