Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi urged the government to consider the demands raised by students across the country on deferring the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) scheduled for September.
Also read: Supreme Court rejects plea to postpone NEET, JEE examinations
“GOI must listen to the #StudentsKeMannKiBaat about NEET, JEE exams and arrive at an acceptable solution,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted.
Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in a tweet in Hindi, said that since the COVID-19 situation was yet to normalise, it was only obvious that the government listen to the concerns raised by students and parents regarding the two exams.
Other Congress leaders too have echoed similar views. Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said that the government should consider the concerns raised by the students. “Aspirants are under tremendous mental pressure as to how they can remain immune while attending exams physically,” he wrote.
Also read: Flights are available, SC tells NEET candidates abroad
Former RS MP B.K. Hariprasad called the government decision to conduct the exams as per schedule “arbitrary”. “Government’s decision to conduct the exam in this #covid crisis is utterly arbitrary, whimsical & violative of the student’s fundamental right to life. The exams of JEE as well as NEET should be postponed,” he tweeted.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking postponement of JEE (Main) and NEET undergraduate examinations amid the spurt in COVID-19 cases, saying “precious year of students” cannot be wasted and life has to go on.
Also read: NRI candidates seek NEET postponement
The JEE (Main) is scheduled to be held between September 1 and 6 while the JEE (Advanced) on September 27. The NEET will be held on September 13. On Friday, Education Ministry officials said the JEE (Main) and the NEET-UG would be conducted in September as scheduled.
