Kolkata, After dashing off two letters on consecutive days of Monday and Tuesday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the JEE and NEET examinations due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will have a virtual meeting this afternoon with Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the issue.
Chief Ministers of several other states will also take part in the video conference. The examinations, scheduled to be held in the first week of September, have triggered protests across the country with students demanding the examinations be cancelled in view of Coronavirus pandemic.Yesterday in a letter, Ms Banerjee sought Mr Modi’s intervention to postpone the examinations and urged him to make an appeal in the Apex Court to review its decision in the interest of the student community.” I would like to request for your kind intervention and to consider the central government making an appeal in the Apex Court to review its decision in the interest of the student community so that they are free from mental agony and mental disaster, ” she noted.In the letter, she urged Mr Modi to appreciate the sensitivity of the matter and consider taking necessary action for postponing these exams until the public health situation becomes conducive again. ” I had requested you to kindly postpone the NEET and JEE Examinations in September 2020. I have explained in the letter that the examinations will pose grave health risks to the examinees, ” she said in the letter. ” I had reminded you that, earlier, I had also requested you in my letter dated 11th July, 2020 to postpone all terminal examinations in universities/colleges across the country and to follow the first guidelines issued by UGC in this regard, ” she added.” Indeed, I have been consistently arguing that the current pandemic situation is an unprecedented crisis in the country and we should not put any life in jeopardy during this pandemic period by taking such decisions. ” Today our Government has received a letter from the National Testing Agency for conducting the JEE/NEET examinatidns starting from 1st September, 2020. We are really worried and concerned, ” the Chief Minister stated. ” I am aware that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has given a verdict On holding of JEE/NEET examinations and the Central Government has been issuing instructions to go ahead with it accordingly. “” 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, so that they are free from mental agony and mental disaster, ” Ms Banerjee further said.” Such intervention is very much essential in the larger interest of the students to facilitate creating a situation whereby the students will neither be subjected to grave health risk nor they will be facing a career risk. “
” I would request you to kindly appreciate the sensitivity of the matter and consider taking necessary action for postponing these examinations until the public health situation becomes conducive again, ” she signed off.