Bengaluru, Aug 27 (IANS): A day after Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan announced that the state will be holding the NEET examination as scheduled in September, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday lashed out at the government saying that it is putting the safety of students at risk.

"Covid-19 cases are increasing rapidly in the country and yet students are being forced to take risks. Should they pledge their lives to take the exams?" questioned Siddaramaiah.

The Congress leader highlighted that it is not safe for students to travel at a time when the pandemic is raging.

"Travelling is not safe for students, accommodation is difficult, public transportation is not fully functional and yet students are expected not to be anxious to write exams," he observed.

According to Siddaramaiah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have been more sensitive towards the students and postpone the exams.

"Despite opposition from everyone, BJP government is adamant on conducting NEET and JEE examinations," he said.

However, Harsith Reddy, a city-based student who bagged the 615th rank in the KCET, wants NEET to be conducted.

He was coronavirus positive when he wrote the KCET examination and observed that NEET can also be conducted by adhering to all the Covid guidelines.

"Actually, there was no problem inside the exam hall, it is outside the exam hall where a lot of crowding is happening," Reddy told IANS.

He is worried that postponing NEET will disrupt their academic calendar and will force them to lose a semester or more.

The student expects that NEET will be held as scheduled on September 13.

Meanwhile, Narayan said the free examination coaching portal, GetCETGo, launched in April to equip students to prepare for the entrance exams amid the Covid lockdowns and pandemic, has been a grand success.

"Happy to share that GetCETGo has been a grand success in helping students prepare for KCET during this pandemic. Had not expected this great response when we conceptualized it," he observed.

The Deputy Chief Minister stated that the GetCETGo app and web platform will continue to remain online, enabling students to prepare for NEET 2020 entrance examination.

On Wednesday, Narayan exuded confidence that Karnataka is well prepared to conduct NEET as he appealed to some sections of people not to hinder the conduct of the examination, citing the recent KCET exam as a successful case amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"The state government has successfully conducted the CET for more than 1.94 lakh students. In addition, 63 Covid positive students have also achieved good ranks by confidently taking the exam. When the reality is so conducive, I do not understand why people are opposing NEET from being conducted," Narayan asserted.

He asked those people opposing the exam not to play with the future of children, and suspected that something is fishy about this issue.

"Maybe certain invisible groups want seats allocated through an opaque system rather than on the basis of merit. Some vested interests have been trying to disrupt the NEET examination since the beginning," the Deputy Chief Minister pointed out.

He alleged that a huge ecosystem has been working behind the scenes for many years now but assured that their objectives will remain unfulfilled.

"NEET needs to be conducted as it is a well-structured exam which allows students to take up admission throughout the country with just one test," pointed out Narayan, who is also the minister for higher education.

Narayan said the state government is well prepared to conduct the entrance examination and expressed the confidence that it will be held smoothly.

On Wednesday, he also announced that Online classes for various degree courses in Karnataka will start from September 1 while regular offline classes will commence from October.

He said all colleges will start regular classes in October and students are expected to attend in person.