NEET JEE 2020 Row LIVE Updates: Six States File Review Petition Against SC Order to Hold Exams Next Month

NEET JEE 2020 Row Live updates: Delhi Congress leaders and workers, including its president Anil Kumar, were detained by police on Friday during a protest against the holding of the JEE and NEET exams amid the COVID-19 pandemi

                                        

Several Congressmen were detained by the police near the Shastri Bhawan and taken to the Mandir Marg police station, Kumar said. "The Centre and its education ministry are endangering the lives of 25 lakh students by being adamant on holding the JEE and NEET when the number of coronavirus cases is going up in the country," he said. The Delhi Congress chief said despite opposition from many states as well as from students and their parents, the Centre is not reconsidering its decision, which is unfortunate.

Meanwhile, six states have filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its decision to go ahead with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) despite the coronavirus pandemic. West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Punjab - all non-BJP states - have sought delay of the entrance exams, urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent order rejecting the postponement. The decision to move the court was taken during a meeting convened by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on a range of issues ahead of Monsoon Session of Parliament.

On Thursday, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday urged Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to consider postponing NEET and JEE in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The Congress is also holding a protests across the country against the Centre's move to push ahead with all-India entrance exams for engineering and medical courses. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi asked the country to unite its voice with lakhs of suffering students. "Let’s make the Govt listen to the students," he tweeted.

The Centre has said it decided to hold the exams based on feedback from parents and students, who do not want to lose the academic year. The National Testing Agency that conducts key entrance exams in the country has also backed the Centre's decision as an attempt "to save one academic year". In his letter to Pokhriyal, chief minister Sorem said there is a risk of spread of infection and with public transport not operating in the state, many candidates would face difficulties in reaching examination centres. This comes a day after seven chief ministers of non-BJP ruled states, including Soren, decided to file a review petition urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent order rejecting the postponement of the two competitive exams. The decision was taken during a meeting convened by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on a range of issues ahead of Monsoon Session of Parliament.

During Wednesday's meeting of opposition CMs, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had suggested they should jointly go to the Supreme Court and seek to defer holding the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). After the meeting - Congress president Sonia Gandhi also attended - Punjab Chief Minister ordered the state's Attorney General to speak to his counterparts in other states and draw a blueprint for an appeal in the top court.

The NTA said if the entrance exams are postponed further, they will put students of government colleges at a disadvantage as against private college students who do not need to appear for competitive exams and have already started an online module. Medical entrance exam NEET is to be held on September 13 and engineering entrance exam JEE Main is scheduled from September 1-6. While a total of 15.97 lakh students have registered for NEET, 9.53 lakh candidates have registered for JEE-Mains.