My Corner: NEET 2024 A student’s perspective

Mannat Anand

May 5 — This was the D-Day for 24 lakh NEET aspirants nursing the dream of entering the world of medicine. It was the day we wrote the NEET exam marking the culmination of over two years of hardwork and sweat.

We entered the exam hall to hustle through the three hours which we thought were crucial for deciding our future.

It was 5:20 pm, a moment which supposedly meant the end of the stressful preparation, rigorous practice and the mental stress we’d been through in the past two years. I still remember having the most peaceful dinner in two years on the night of May 5. But little did I know that this peace was about to fade at the sight of the unexpectedly “good” results just a month later.

The eventful day of June 4 — a day when the “ transparent and fair” NTA “efficiently” declared the result of one of the most competitive exams in the country 10 days earlier than the date it was expected to.

The exceptionally high number of toppers did come as a surprise but still my “naive” mind did not smell a rat. As time passed, acceptance seeped in until another shocker was in store for us — the “RE-NEET 2024” campaign.

It ain’t the re-exam that disturbs my sanity, but the uncertainty whether or not it will take place, that is killing me.

We have been nothing short of lab rats for NTA who’ve wreaked havoc on our lives by experimenting with the syllabus, and alleged paper leaks. The cherry on the cake remains the hearings of the Apex court which we’ve been awaiting for so long.

“Why do I have to suffer?”, I can not but help asking again and again. Especially as this time was supposed to be a moment to savour the fruits of my labour and prepare for my dream college. And here I am struggling with the same NCERTs preparing for an exam which no one knows will be conducted or not.

The very thought that the coveted seat may slip out of my hands just because of loss of concentration and stress suffered over the past few days, gives me sleepless nights and goosebumps every single day. Walking on eggshells would have been a child’s play compared to the anguish being felt at this time.

All those who took NEET-UG this year have been put in a strange predicament with no light shining at the end of this dark tunnel of corruption.

While we stay stranded between the devil and the deep blue sea, the only thing we students wish for is an end to this uncertainty, a state of mind marked by clarity and vision about what our future would look like.

It’s an earnest appeal to the authorities concerned to come to a decision which would bring about the much-needed perspicuity and to take all of us out of this dilemma which has inflicted immense confusion and agony over the past month.

The writer is a former student of Cambridge Innovative School, Jalandhar, and has passed Class XII in 2024