NEET Exam Center; Global Pravasi Association seeks solution

Sharjah: Salam Pappinissery, Chairman of the Global Pravasi Association, has submitted a petition to the Prime Minister of India, the Union Education Minister, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, the Indian Consul, and the NTA Director, demanding an amendment to the procedure for excluding examination centers in foreign countries, including the Gulf, for the medical entrance examination 'NEET' (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), and to make the excluded NEET centers available again. He explained in the petition that the NTA's failure to provide any clear reasons or other notices for excluding the examination centers has paved the way for protests in the diaspora and that this decision of the NTA, which affects the future of the students, has put both parents and students in a crisis.

The list of NTA examination centers was published on 09-02-2024. Last year, NEET examination centers were allowed in 12 countries outside India, including six Gulf countries. This move by the NTA has come as a major setback to expatriates who were hoping to have NEET exam centres in more than 12 countries this time.

When the central government decided not to postpone the NEET and JEE exams in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, many expatriate Indians, including Malayalis, who were in crisis due to travel bans and quarantine, had approached Salam Pappinissery for legal assistance, demanding that NEET exam centres be set up in the UAE. He then took up the case on the request of his parents and contacted Haris Beeran, a prominent lawyer in India, and through him, approached the Supreme Court.