JEE, NEET 2020: Mamata Banerjee urges Centre to postpone exams until situation is conducive

Another leader expressing displeasure against the decision to conduct the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in September amid the coronavirus crisis in the country is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who on Monday appealed the Centre to assess the risk and postpone the exams.

The CM asked the government to defer the exams until the situation becomes conducive.

Banerjee said that it is the duty of the government to ensure a safe environment for all students.

"Now with the directive of @EduMinOfIndia to 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," the TMC supremo tweeted.

Now with the directive of @EduMinOfIndia to 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. (2/2)

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 24, 2020

She further mentioned that in her last video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she had raised her voice against the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines mandating completion of terminal examinations in universities and colleges by the end of September 2020.

"In our last video conference with PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, 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 said.

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

On Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also urged the government to take into account concerns of JEE and NEET students who have been demanding postponement of the entrance examinations.

"Today lakhs of students are saying something. The GOI must listen to the Students Ke Mann Ki Baat about NEET, JEE exams and arrive at an acceptable solution," the Congress leader had said in a tweet.

The response of the leaders comes amid the demands from students and parents to postpone the entrance exams in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases.