Centre postpones NEET Post-Grad entrance exam scheduled for Sunday amid Covid surge

In a tweet, he wrote: "In light of the surge in COVID-19 cases, the Government of India has decided to postpone NEET-PG 2021 exam, which was earlier scheduled to be held on April 18. Next date to be decided later."

An estimated 1.7 lakh medical aspirants were scheduled to appear in the examination.

The next date for the exam will be announced after reviewing the situation later.

The decisions came after it emerged that a group of student doctors had moved the Supreme Court asking for the exam to be deferred.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde will hear the matter on Friday.

Even  "#postponeneetpg" trended online over the past few weeks and a signature campaign was set up online.

Earlier on Wednesday, India's central board for secondary education (CBSE) decided to cancel the scheduled examinations for class 10 and postpone for class 12 amid the massive spike in Covid cases across the country.

Those sitting for entrance tests like NEET and JEE had protested too and approached the Supreme Court. The top court, however, said the exams could be held with strict restrictions on contact and social distancing.

In a grim situation, India registered 2,00,739 new Covid-19 cases between Wednesday and Thursday mornings, marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak.