Chief ministers of seven states during a virtual meet called by Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi have decided to lodge a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the Centre's decision to hold the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In the meeting, delay in GST compensation by the Centre to states was also discussed.
The meeting was attended by TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena chief, and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha president and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. All four Congress CMs - Amarinder Singh in Punjab, Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, Bhupesh Baghel in Chattisgarh, and V Narayanasamy in Puducherry - were also present in the meeting.
It was West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee who urged all states to join hands and approach the Supreme Court for the postponement of JEE and NEET exams.
“Students are facing hardship. If Centre is not going to SC to appeal against the JEE-NEET exam, states should approach SC on this issue,” Mamata Banerjee said.
“The government has announced exam dates during such uncertainties. Rail is not working, air transport is not smooth. The decision will harm students during the pandemic. I don’t know how they will sit for exams,” said Banerjee.
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Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi also raised the NEET-JEE issue on Twitter and wrote, "NEET-JEE aspirants are worried about their health and future. They have genuine concerns of fear of Covid-19 infection; transport and lodging during a pandemic; and flood-mayhem in Assam and Bihar. The government must listen to all stakeholders and find an acceptable solution."
Notably, it has been learned from the official sources of the Ministry of Education that there would be no rethinking about conducting JEE and NEET exams. This means, that JEE and NEET will not be postponed, students will have to appear for the exams starting September 1-13.