JEE-Mains for admission to engineering colleges were held on Tuesday. (Proceedings)
New Delhi:
Ministers from six opposition-ruled states have gone to the Supreme Court to ask it to review its decision on taking the NEET and joint entrance exams. The petition will be presented tomorrow before the judges. Despite pleas from various quarters to postpone the exam in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the court had refused to comply, saying that the future of the students should not be put in jeopardy.
However, the examinations have already started. The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) -Main for Admission to Engineering Colleges, was held on Tuesday, and thousands of students turned up amid strict coronavirus precautions. The NEET (National Eligibility and Entrance Examination) medical entrance exam will be held on September 13.
Around 8.58 lakh of candidates registered for the JEE-Main (Joint Entrance Examination) and 15.97 lakh of students for NEET.
After the exams were postponed twice, the Supreme Court, on August 17, had rejected the requests of 11 students to postpone the exams.
Citing the pandemic and accessibility issues across the country amid flooding and the lockdown, the students had asked for a third postponement. Several states and political leaders had backed her demand.
But after the court’s refusal, top ministers from six opposition-ruled states – Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Maharashtra – approached the court last week to ask for a review of their decision.
“It is our duty to ensure a safe environment for all of our students,” Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted.
State officials said the tests were a public health risk and that they would be blamed for any spike in Covid infection that might result.
Maharashtra Minister Aditya Thackeray tweeted a copy of his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he said canceling the exams would prevent an increase in infections.
On the eve of Tuesday’s exams, Congressional Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP-led central government of ignoring the plight of students.
“Modi Govt is putting India’s future in jeopardy. Arrogance is causing them to ignore the genuine concerns of JEE-NEET applicants as well as the demands of those who took SSC and other exams. Give jobs, not empty slogans.” his tweet read.
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