NEET 2020: RaGa, Mamata Bannerjee ask govt to consider concerns of students

New Delhi - With the Students agitation over the conduct of NEET 2020 gathering momentum, senior opposition leaders took to twiiter to appeal to the government to listen to the demands of the students to postpone the exam 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday urged the government to consider the concerns of students on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and arrive at an acceptable solution.There have been demands from several students and parents to postpone the entrance exams in view of increasing coronavirus cases.

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"GOI must listen to the #StudentsKeMannKiBaat about NEET, JEE exams and arrive at an acceptable solution," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also appealed to the Centre to postpone the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation.

Banerjee, in a series of tweets on Monday morning, 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 pos

The Supreme Court on Monday had dismissed a plea seeking postponement of JEE (Main) April 2020 and NEET-Undergraduate examinations, which are scheduled to be conducted in September, amid a spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases, saying the precious year of students "cannot be wasted" and life has to go on.

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.

"The COVID-19 situation in the country is yet to normalize. 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," Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted in Hindi.

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