Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made a special request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mamata Banerjee has said that the Centre should go in appeal against the Supreme Court order. The order is for holding the JEE and NEET examinations during the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure the aspirants are free from ‘mental agony’.
Mamata Banerjee wrote to Modi after the West Bengal government received a letter Tuesday from the National Testing Agency. The letter said 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. The central government has been issuing instructions to go ahead with it accordingly,” Mamata wrote.
“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. It will free them from mental agony and mental disaster. Such intervention is very much essential in the larger interest of the students. It will facilitate in creating a situation whereby the students will not be subjected to grave health risk nor they will be facing a career risk,” Banerjee wrote in the letter that was also released to media. “We are really worried and concerned,” she added.
Aspirants sit for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission to premier engineering colleges and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical courses.
Banerjee, in a series of tweets Monday morning, said she was vocal about the issue during the last video conference of chief ministers with the prime minister. She had said that lives of students should not be put at risk by taking such ‘unilateral and bureaucratic decisions’.
“I would request you to kindly appreciate the sensitivity of the matter. Please consider taking necessary action for posting these examinations until the public health situation becomes conducive again,” Banerjee wrote.
The JEE (Main) this year, is scheduled to be held from September 1 and 6 while the JEE (Advanced) on September 27.
The Supreme Court had dismissed a plea seeking the postponement of JEE (Main) April, 2020 and NEET examinations despite the pandemic showing no signs of ebbing away.