Postpone JEE, NEET 2020 chorus grows: Top leaders join students' demand. Check lists
As chorus to postpone various examinations, including NEET and JEE continue to grow amid the COVID-19 pandemic, top political leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin and several others have joined students' demands and have urged the Centre to postpone exams till normalcy in the country is restored. On Sunday, over 4,000 students had observed a day-long hunger strike at their respective homes demanding that CBSE compartment exams of Classes 10 and 12 be cancelled and entrance exams such as the UGC-NET, CLAT, NEET and JEE be postponed in view of rising COVID-19 cases.
Using the hashtag, SATYAGRAHagainstExamInCovid, many students also took to Twitter to appeal to the government to pay heed to their demands. The tweetstorm has simply intensified following the announcement that the Centre would not be pressing pause on the upcoming exams. #ProtestAgainstExamsInCOVID, #NEETJEE, #PostponeJEE_NEETinCovid and more were on top trends in India. All in all, more than 3 million tweets were made as per the numbers mentioned on Twitter.
Top leaders join chorus to postponement of JEE Main, NEET and other exams:
Rahul Gandhi:
Joining the chorus to postpone of exams, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the government must listen to the ‘mann ki baat’ of students and arrive at “an acceptable solution” and his party demanded that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) be deferred.
DMK president MK Stalin also wrote a letter to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal requesting him to postpone the exams.
Subramanian Swamy
Also, Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy questioned why the exams could not be pushed further if other exams could be postponed.
"If our Modi Government goes through imposing the NEET/JEE exam now it will be the giant mistake like Nasbandi in 1976 that caused the undoing of Indira government in 1977. Indian voters may suffer silently but have long memories," Swamy tweeted.
Manish Sisodia
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had also appealed to the central government to cancel medical and engineering entrance exams JEE and NEET in view of the COVID-19 situation.
Priyanka Gandhi:
In a tweet in Hindi, Priyanka Gandhi said, "The COVID-19 situation in the country is yet to normalise. In such a situation, if students who are taking NEET and JEE, and their parents have raised concerns, then these should be taken into consideration by the government and those conducting these exams."
Chirag Paswan
Member of Parliament Chirag Paswan also wrote a letter to the Education Minister highlighting health and safety concerns related to the operation of JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020 in September. Sharing the letter on social media, he wrote, “I have sent a letter today to eminent @DrRPNishank ji on the subject of #JEE_NEET exam by email and fax, so that I can make him aware of the problem pointed out by the children and their parents. Hope not only believe that by reviewing everything told by parents, they will protect the interests of children. ”
Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone NEET) and JEE examinations that are scheduled to be held in September.
"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.
Aaditya Thackeray
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.
Tejashwi Yadav
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Yadav has also demanded the postponement of JEE Main and NEET exams.
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 the precious year of students "cannot be wasted" and "life has to go on".
On Friday, Education Ministry officials had said the JEE (Main) and the NEET-UG will be conducted in September as scheduled. 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.
(We will be updating the copy as and when more leaders join the Postpone JEE, NEET 2020 chorus. Stay tuned with our Education News section to keep yourself updated on the latest news on students demands on exam moratorium)
