NEET centres at 4 more cities in Maha

MAHARASHTRA WILL HAVE THE FOUR OTHER CENTRES IN SATARA, AMRAVATI, KOLHAPUR AND AHMEDNAGAR

in mind a 41.4% increase in the number of students registering for the National Eligibility-cum-entrance Test (NEET) when compared to last year, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has added 23 more cities, including four in Maharashtra, that will conduct the test in the country. This takes the total to 103 cities in the country, and 10 in the state, the CBSE said in a circular on Thursday.

The entrances will be held on May 7. Students interested in changing their examination city can do so online between March 24 and 27.

Apart form Aurangabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nasik, Pune and Thane, Maharashtra will also have centres in Ahmednagar, Amravati, Kolhapur and Satara. The total count makes it the state with the highest number of centres in the country.

Earlier this month, some student activists had written to state medical education minister Girish Mahajan, demanding more examination centres in the state.

“Against the 8.02 applications for NEET I & II last year, 11.35 lakh students, the highest so far, have registered this year. Looking at the substantial increase in numbers, the ministry of Human Resource and Development has desired to increase 23 more examination cities to the list,” states the latest circular released on www.cbseneet.nic.in.

Students across the country had demanded for more centres in Maharashtra, since all health science aspirants will have to appear for NEET examinations this. The state government had scrapped the Common Entrance Test. “Without this move, students from rural Maharashtra will end up travelling large distances to appear for the test. This move will be of help to many students,” said Mayuresh Chitre, parent of a NEET aspirant.