FPJ-Ed: Over 23k GATE candidates demanded the exam be postponed

Over 23,000 candidates appearing for the GATE examination in February have joined a petition demanding the exam be postponed given the third wave of COVID-19. The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an examination that primarily tests the comprehensive understanding of various undergraduate subjects in engineering and science for admission to the master's program and recruitment by some public sector companies.

This year the exam is being conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur from February 4-13. "The current third wave, COVID-19 due to its new variant Omicron has spread severely in several states and cities. Several studies including one done by IIT Kanpur predict that the peak of the 3rd wave is expected in early February, and the wave will end by April.

Therefore, the peak is most likely to coincide with the usual exam dates of GATE," the petition read. "If the exam dates are not postponed, the candidates appearing for GATE 2022 run the imminent risk of getting infected and spreading it thereby getting a threat to their life as well as their family members' lives," it added. There was no response from IIT Kharagpur on the issue. The result of the exam is scheduled to be declared on March, 17.