Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urges PM Modi to defer JEE-NEET entrance exams

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to defer the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) till the COVID-19 situation improves.

"Aspirants are under tremendous mental pressure as to how they could remain immune while attending exams physically. In this pandemic situation, their concerns should be given consideration. The spectre of corona will be haunting the students during the examination period stretching from September 1," he wrote to PM Modi.

"When the country is experiencing a spike of infection exceeding 70,000 cases daily, I think it is necessary to review the date of the exam because about 25 lakh students are supposed to take it," he added.

Requesting Hon PM Sh @narendramodi Ji to postpone the date of JEE NEET exam pic.twitter.com/2Rq8f7IzUp

— Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) August 23, 2020

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday announced that JEE will be held from September 1 to 6 and NEET on September 13.

Earlier, Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha also wrote to Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to consider all facets of security and safety of students before announcing the final dates of JEE and NEET entrance tests in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On August 17, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled to be held in September 2020.