Sonia urges Centre to listen to students, party holds protests
NEWDELHI:THE Congress on Friday held nationwide protests over the Centre’s decision to hold the National Eligibility-cum-entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in September, with party chief Sonia Gandhi urging the government to listen to the voices of students and act according to their wishes.
Opposition parties such as the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Shiv Sena and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha have demanded that the NEET and JEE exams be deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic and floods in parts of the country.
However, the central government has repeatedly made it clear that the exams will be held as per schedule with due precautions.
Separately, six ministers of opposition-ruled states – West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry – moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking a review of its order allowing the Centre to hold the exams.
The Congress also held an online campaign -- “Speak Up For Student Safety” – with the party’s leaders and workers extending support to students on social media.
“I feel for you because you are now facing a very difficult situation. The issue of your exams, of when they should be taken up, is the most important issue, not only for you but for your family,” Sonia Gandhi said in her video message to the students.
“You are our future. We depend on you to build a better India. Therefore, if any decision has to be taken regarding students’ future, it is important that it is taken with your concurrence,” she added.
“I hope the government listens to you, listens to your voices and acts upon your wishes. This is my advice to the government,” Sonia Gandhi said in the nearly minutelong video posted on the party’s Twitter handle.
The NEET is slated to be held on September 13, while engineering entrance exam JEE-MAIN is scheduled between September 1 and 6. The Supreme Court had last week dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the two exams, saying a “precious academic year of students cannot be wasted and life has to go on”.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also urged the government to hold a conversation with students and take a decision after arriving at a consensus.
“NEET-JEE aspirants’ safety should not be compromised due to the failures of the government. Government must listen to all stakeholders and arrive at a consensus,” he tweeted.
Rahul Gandhi also tagged a video of him urging the government to listen to students. “You are the students and you are going to take this country to new heights. Everybody understands what has happened over the last three or four months,” he said.
“...Now what I don’t understand is why you should be held responsible and why further pain should be imposed on you,” Rahul Gandhi told the students.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the government cannot ignore the voices of students. “They are the future of our country. With the rising scale of the pandemic, is it fair to expose them to infection in this manner? Are they not our children, too?” she asked.
Among the Congress leaders who joined the party’s online campaign by posting their messages and videos on social media were Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mukul Wasnik, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Jitin Prasada and Raj Babbar.
Later Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, TMC leader Derek O’brien, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren addressed a virtual press conference in this regard.
“The mental status of our students is probably more important than physical constraints. They are under pressure, they are under pain, they are under fear, with 6 months of Covid and they are suddenly forced because you threw yourself into a corner…without thinking of alternatives for 3-4 months, into a sudden press button….start giving exams from September 1,” he said.