West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) examinations that are scheduled to be held in September. Bengal Chief Minister's request has come at a time when the nation is dealing through a pandemic that has infected millions and while thousands have succumbed.
Banerjee, in a series of tweets, said she was vocal about the issue during the last video conference of chief ministers with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
"In our last video conference with the Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodiJi, I had been vocal against the UGC guidelines mandating completion of terminal examinations in Universities/Colleges by the end of September 2020, which had a huge potential to put student lives at risk," she tweeted.
Banerjee appealed to the Centre to assess the risk and postpone the examinations until the situation is conducive again.
"Now with the directive of @EduMinOfIndiato conduct NEET, JEE 2020 in Sep, I would again appeal to the Centre to assess the risk and postpone these examinations until the situation is conducive again. It is our duty to ensure a safe environment for all our students," she said in another Twitter
post.
The Supreme Court had dismissed a plea seeking the postponement of JEE (Main) April, 2020 and NEET (Undergraduate) examinations, which are scheduled to be held in September, amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases, saying precious year of students "cannot be wasted" and "life has to go on".
A while ago, Shiv Sena MP from Worli Aaditya Thackeray also wrote a letter to PM Modi for his intervention to citing health risk to students, families in wake of various exams that are being proposed by Universities amid the pandemic.
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 had said the JEE (Main) and the NEET-UG will be conducted in September as scheduled.
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