West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday appealed for a joint plea with other state heads before the Supreme Court to postpone the NEET and JEE Mains examinations scheduled for the first week of September even as the coronavirus cases across India continue to rise.
Her views were echoed by her Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh who has asked his state Advocate General to coordinate with his counterparts in other opposition-ruled states for filing a collective review petition in the Supreme Court to seek deferment of the NEET-JEE exams.
Speaking at a virtual meeting of opposition chief ministers chaired by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on various issues related to the states and the Centre, Banerjee said, “I appreciate the court’s order on examination. But I would like to appeal to our Prime Minister to request the Supreme Court to postpone the examination. There are previous instances when the government of India has appealed on some issues. Similarly, I would like to request the Centre to appeal to the Supreme Court to review its order so that the student community should not feel harassed.”
Banerjee said if the law permits, political parties can discuss the matter with senior advocates for a joint appeal. “The Supreme Court can say it has already given the instruction, but there are instances when it reviewed its order considering the larger benefit of the society. If the Centre refuses to approach the court, we can jointly make a fresh appeal before the apex court to postpone the examination. My request to you all, let us go to the SC together,” she said.
Banerjee even suggested a public movement “for the betterment of students who are mentally depressed with the examination dates in this crisis period”. “There are more than 25 lakh students — how will they travel? What about their safety and security?” she asked.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren and four Congress Chief Ministers were also present in the virtual meet.
Thanking Gandhi for organising the meeting, Banerjee urged every chief minister to come forward in this fight.
“The Centre is bulldozing the state government. I have not seen such atrocities by the Centre before. We are facing an acute crisis. We are not allowed to speak against them,” she said. “If we speak, there are agencies to harass us. Facebook to everywhere, they are spending money to destroy the democratic fabrics of India.”
Banerjee had written to PM Narendra Modi for the second consecutive day on Tuesday on the holding of the JEE/NEET examinations during the ongoing pandemic and sought his intervention. Banerjee in her letter had also requested the Centre to consider appealing to the Supreme Court to review its decision on holding the exams in the interest of the student community.
Comments
0 comment