JEE, NEET 2020 To Be Postponed? Education Ministry To Issue Statement Amid Agitation

Amidst the calls for postponement of engineering and medical entrance tests - JEE (Main) April 2020 and NEET-Undergraduate, the Education Ministry will issue video statement today.

As per the report by India Today, the statement will be issued at 3 pm today and it would also have a response to the state governments who are opposing the conduction of the JEE and NEET exams.

Supporting the demand for postponement of NEET and JEE examinations in view of the coronavirus pandemic, seven chief ministers of non-BJP ruled states on Wednesday decided to jointly move the Supreme Court on the issue.

Parties like the DMK and the AAP too joined the growing chorus against the holding of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) at a time when COVID-19 cases were rising.

At a meeting convened by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on a range of issues ahead of Monsoon Session of Parliament, the seven chief ministers unanimously agreed to the need for filing a review petition urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent order rejecting the postponement of the competitive exams.

Among the chief ministres who attended the meeting were West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Maharashtra's Uddhav Thackeray, who is heading the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government, Punjab's Amarinder Singh (Congress), Jharkhand's Hemant Soren (JMM), Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot (Congress), Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel (Congress)and Puducherry's V Narayanasamy (Congress).

A decision was taken to discuss the matter and evolve a joint strategy in this regard.

Sonia Gandhi said the Congress party was on board on the issue and asked Banerjee, who proposed a joint appeal by the states in the apex court, to work out with Amarinder Singh and other chief ministers on the legal recourse. She said whatever steps need to be taken in the interest of students should be taken unitedly.

Batting for the students who are demanding postponement of the exams due to COVID-19, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged the central government to listen to their grievances and find an amicable solution.

In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, parents and students wanted the postponement of JEE and NEET, however, the Ministry of Education clarified that the competitive exams will be held in September as it was scheduled.

As per the public notices issued by NTA, JEE (Main) April 2020 is scheduled from September 1-6, while NEET-UG 2020 exam is scheduled for September 13.