Ministers from 6 states move SC seeking postponement of NEET, JEE exams

Six Ministers of opposition-ruled states moved the apex court on Friday seeking a review of its order permitting the Centre to conduct NEET and JEE entrance exams this year amid the prevailing extraordinary circumstances.

New Delhi: Ministers from West Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have moved to the Supreme Court seeking a review of its earlier order wherein it had refused to postpone NEET and JEE exams amid the COVID pandemic.

The bench led by Justice Arun Mishra had ordered that exams can not be postponed as loss of one year will lead to peril for students and because the covid is expected to be in next year as well, education must go on avoiding losses to the students.

Ministers of the non BJP ruled states have sought postponement of examinations by six to eight weeks so that union government has adequate transpiration, special buses, trains and flights for students to reach examination centre safely. They are also seeking more examination centres, one in each district so that students don't have to travel amid the restrictions imposed by certain states to deal with surge in cases and social distancing will be easier to maintain.

"The impugned order has failed to appreciate that the question of Logistics is inextricably intertwined with the aspect of safety and can not be seen in isolation. A large number of candidates who appear for the NEET/JEE examinations come from non metro, semi urban, Tier 2, Tier 3 and rural areas. Such candidates have natural disadvantages which might force them to complete their journey to the examinations centre by resorting to unsafe modes of transportation and they would thereby expose themselves and everyone else to COVID-19 infection," read the plea.

Some issues highlighted by the ministers include contracting virus and then transmitting it to family, inaccessibility to students residing in remote areas, limited options of exam centres. The non BJP states have also stated that students residing in flood struck areas will further be put into disadvantageous situation.

The state governments have also contended that the examinations were postponed in July due to the lockdown in several states and the existing pandemic situation of the country is much worse than what it was in April or July.

"The advice of 'Life Must go on' may have very sound philosophical underpinnings but can not substitute for valid legal reasoning and logical analysis of the various aspects involved in the conduct of the NEET UG and JEE exams," read the petition.

The petition has been jointly moved by Moloy Ghatak(TMC WB), Rameshwar Oraon(INC Jharkhand), Raghu Sharma(INC Rajasthan), Amarjeet Bhagat(INC, Chhattisgarh), Balbir Singh Sidhu(INC Punjab) and Uday Ravindra Samant(Shiv Sena Maharashtra).