A total of six ministers each from non-BJP-ruled states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Maharashtra have filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the apex court’s 17 August decision refusing to postpone the NEET and JEE exams scheduled to be held next month amid Covid-19.
The petitioners are Moloy Ghatak, Labour Minister (West Bengal), Dr Rameshwar Oraon, Finance Minister(Jhakhand), Dr Raghu Sharma, Health Minister (Rajasthan), Amarjeet Bhagat, Food Minister (Chhattisgarh), Balbir Singh Sidhu, Health Minister(Punjab) and Uday Samant, Education Minister (Maharashtra).
The petitioners have stated that if the court’s decision of refusing to postpone NEET and JEE exams is not reviewed then it would cause grave and irreparable harm on the students. They further said that postponing the examination by 6 to 8 weeks would give adequate time to the Central government to arrange adequate transportation i.e. special buses, trains and flights in consultation with the state governments, so that the students have a hassle free and safe access to their examinations centre.
As per the National Testing Agency (NTA), approximately 9.53 lakh and 15.97 lakh students have registered for JEE (Main) and NEET (UG) 2020 respectively, which would mean that 25 lakh students cumulatively would be appearing for these two examinations.
“The Central Government is focused on avoiding the contagion at the examination centers. They failed to appreciate the point that the process of reaching the examination centre itself can be a major source of contracting the infection. The union government has created an unfortunate situation whereby the candidates may become vectors and carry the infection back to their homes and put their parents, grandparents, family, relatives and friends at risk of infection. This multiplier effect will be disastrous for the health of the nation”, the plea said.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi who has prepared the plea said that the average figure would be 1,450 students per centre and these densities made a mockery of Covid safeguards. The petitioners informed the court that many of the students who would be appearing in the NEET/ JEE exams would be forced to travel amidst this global pandemic to the respective examination centres, with minimum public transport operating. Flights are operating at 50-60 percent occupancy when airlines are permitted to function at 45% of their strength and unaffordability of private transportation for many students, thereby increasing their risk of infection.
“A large number of students are those who come from rural areas, but also from urban areas, Tier-II and Tier-III cities, with railways and buses running a 33-50% capacity. Such large movements are a recipe for disaster as far as health concerns, life concerns, security concerns, our concerns. We have tried to provide a road map with full responsibility about how even if the exams are postponed to October and November and expect the results in a curtailed period of 6 week instead of 8 weeks, one can comfortably start by January and yet complete the academic year,” Singhvi said.