KOLKATA: Sharpening her attack on the Centre’s decision to conduct NEET and JEE exams in September, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his Maan Ki Baat platform to gauge the students’ pulse. She also advised Modi to interact with genuine students, not with "fabricated" ones.
"The Centre is trying to impose its unilateral decision on the states. There is a programme titled Mann Ki Baat. Why don’t you interact with the students regarding your decisions to conduct exams in September? You interact with genuine students, not fabricated ones. You will come to know what students want," said Mamata while addressing a virtual rally from her Kalighat residence on the occasion of the foundation day of the students’ wing of her party.
West Bengal government has raised strong objection after the Union education ministry asked the states to conduct NEET and JEE citing the risk factors in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. In a virtual meeting with Opposition chief minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, she requested all to come together and move the Supreme Court against the Centre’s decision.
Referring to the UGC’s recent directive asking universities to conduct final semester examinations within September, Mamata said, "The UGC had earlier recommended not to conduct exams in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. But in a recent communication, it asked to conduct the university examinations. Earlier they were concerned about students’ safety and now they are not."
The West Bengal CM announced the state government will not conduct any examinations in schools across the state in September. "The institutes come under the state government’s affairs will not ask students in schools to appear for any examinations. We will consider how exams can be conducted in October," she said.
The TMC chief has asked the supporters of its students’ wing to launch a large-scale movement against the Centre’s decision. "I have requested the Centre to postpone NEET and JEE for the sake of lakhs of students’ safety. I urge the young supporters of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Praishad to hit the roads and form a large-scale movement against the central government’s decision," she said.