Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia urges Centre to cancel JEE, NEET slated for September

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday requested the Central government to cancel the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) scheduled to be held in September.

"The central government is playing with the lives of millions of students in the name of JEE-NEET. My request to the Centre is to cancel both these exams immediately and make an alternative arrangement for admission this year. In this time of unprecedented crisis, an unprecedented step will lead to a solution," Sisodia tweeted.

He said thinking that only NEET-JEE is the only option for admission is narrow and impractical thinking.

"Educational institutions around the world are adopting new methods of admission. Why can't we do so in India? Is it sensible to stake children's lives in the name of entrance examination?" he asked.

He said that there can be thousands of safe ways instead of NEET and JEE.

"Today in 21st century India, we cannot think of an entrance exam option! This is not possible. Only the intention of the government should be to think in the interest of students, instead of NEET-JEE, there can be thousands of safe ways," he said in a series of tweets.

Earlier, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) (UG) on September 13.