COVID-19: Mamata Banerjee appeals to Centre to postpone JEE, NEET exams

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appealed to Centre to postpone Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) due to prevailing COVID-19 situation. Aspirants sit for JEE for admission to premier engineering colleges and NEET for undergraduate medical courses. Banerjee, in a series of tweets on Monday morning, said she was vocal about issue during last video conference of chief ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"In our last video conference with Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodiJi, I had been vocal against UGC guidelines mandating completion of terminal examinations in Universities/Colleges by end of September 2020, which had a huge potential to put student lives at risk," she tweeted.

Banerjee appealed to Centre to assess risk and postpone examinations until situation is conducive again.

"w with directive of @EduMifIndiato conduct NEET, JEE 2020 in Sep, I would again appeal to Centre to assess risk and postpone se examinations until situation is conducive again. It is our duty to ensure a safe environment for all our students," she said in ar Twitter post.

Supreme Court had dismissed a plea seeking postponement of JEE (Main) April, 2020 and NEET (Undergraduate) examinations, which are scheduled to be held in September, amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases, saying precious year of students "cant be wasted" and "life has to go on". JEE (Main) is scheduled to be held between September 1 and 6, while JEE (Advanced) on September 27. NEET will be held on September 13. On Friday, Education Ministry officials had said JEE (Main) and NEET-UG will be conducted in September as scheduled.