NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged states to jointly move the Supreme Court to postpone the NEET and JEE entrance examinations as the students are not prepared due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking at a virtual meeting of opposition party CMs, Mamata said that states can jointly appeal against the Supreme Court order on holding JEE/NEET examinations if the Centre decides not to do so.
The meeting, chaired by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, was attended by Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy.
Earlier, Mamata had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the central government to consider filing a review petition in the Supreme Court over the dates of NEET and JEE examinations.
She wrote to Modi after the state government received a letter from the National Testing Agency on Tuesday to conduct the JEE/NEET examinations starting from September 1, 2020.
“I am aware that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has given a verdict on holding JEE/NEET examinations and the central government has been issuing instructions to go ahead with it accordingly.
“However, I would like to request for your kind intervention and to consider the central government making an appeal to the Hon’ble apex court to review its decision in the interest of the student community, so that they are free from mental agony and mental disaster,” she said.
The JEE Main and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) will be conducted in September as scheduled, the Ministry of Education officials had on Tuesday said, amid a growing chorus for postponing the crucial tests in view of the pandemic.
While the JEE Main is scheduled from September 1-6, NEET is planned on September 13.
(With inputs from agencies)
