7 oppn CMs want NEET, JEE put off, will seek SC rethink

7 oppn CMs want NEET, JEE put off, will seek SC rethink

AAP & BJP Ally AIADMK Oppose Sept 1 Date Too

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: 27.08.2020

Five states and a Union territory where Congress and its allies are in office, as well as West Bengal, will petition the Supreme Court against the holding of NEET and JEE examinations from September 1, flagging concerns of Covid infection risk and seeking a postponement till the situation improves.

In a virtual meeting chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, Congress CMs of Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry; CMs of Maharashtra and Jharkhand — where the party is in alliance — and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee felt while the apex court okayed the holding of exams, it had in the past shown consideration for students in sensitive situations.

While Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal didn’t attend the meet, his AAP government also said the tests shouldn’t go ahead now. Even Tamil Nadu government, led by BJP ally AIADMK, has been asking for the exams to be deferred.

The apex court recently dismissed appeals against holding of the exams, noting, “Life should move on. We have to go ahead. Precious one year of students will go waste.”

The 7 CMs interact with Cong chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday

CMs plan a common platform to fight BJP

The debate on whether the entrance exams should be held has become a polarising one with the opposition parties wading in. On social media, comments flew thick and fast, with allegations of hashtags and trends being manipulated and traded as well. The discussion appeared to have split opinion even as the government and the National Testing Agency said arrangements have been made keeping the needs of social distancing and sanitation in mind.

Mamata Banerjee said she has written two letters to PM Modi asking for the Centre to approach the Supreme Court to defer the exams. “If the government of India cannot go to court, we, as elected state governments can approach the court on behalf of lakhs of students whose future is at stake,” she said. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh said, “I endorse Mamata Banerjee’s view that we should collectively approach the Supreme Court again.”

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said, “In my state, we have very few centres. To accommodate these students, we will have to open all hotels and buses.”

The meeting was significant as the CMs of three key regional parties— Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena and JMM — and Congress decided to forge a common platform to fight “injustice” at the hands of BJP and also resolved to meet the President and the PM.

They made a special mention of the “use of central agencies” to arm-twist them. That the Congress chief coordinated the rallying cry added weight to the exercise, especially in the wake of the approaching Parliament session and protests from states over the Centre’s new policy measures — alleged favouring of corporate hou- ses, privatisation of airpo- rts, railways and coal blocks, and draft EIA guidelines. These issues were flagged in the meeting by the CMs.

Full report on www.toi.in

150 academicians back move to hold entrance exams

Over 150 academicians from various universities and higher education institutions on Wednesday wrote to PM Narendra Modi and extended their support to conduct the JEE and NEET-UG exams. In their letter, the academicians, including V-Cs of Mahatma Gandhi Central University of Bihar (Motihari) and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (Gujarat) and senior faculty members of IITs, NITs and other universities, said, “millions of students have passed Class 12 exams and are waiting to take the next step. The government declared its decision to conduct the JEE and NEET and announced the dates. We wholeheartedly welcome this move.” TNN Full report on www.toi.in