Supreme Court lawyer, Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava has written to Prime Minister Modi and the Education Minister Mr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank seeking postponement of the JEE Main 2020 and undergraduate NEET 2020 exams. 

The two exams are scheduled in September. The students’ lawyer has asked for a delay in the exams amid the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in India.

On August 17, 2020, the SC gave a nod for holding the two examinations in September and dismissed the plea for postponement of the two exams. 

Read: JEE Main and NEET 2020 to be held as per the schedule; SC Reject plea seeking postponement of exams 

The JEE (Main) April 2020 exam is to be scheduled online from September 1-6 while the NEET UG 2020 offline for September 13. Students can now download their JEE Main 2020 admit card which was released on August 17, 2020 by NTA.

Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava who has been arguing cases for students has also made some other demands and grounds. The demands made by him are:

  • Postpone of the upcoming NEET-UG and JEE (Main) 2020 exams in view of the alarming increase of COVID-19 cases in India till the time normalcy is restored. 
  • Increase the number of exam centers so that every district has at least one NEET and JEE Main examination center.
  • And in case the exams cannot be delayed, students who won’t be able to appear for the exams in Septemeber must be allowed to write them on later dates. 

Reasons for demanding postponement of NEET and JEE Main 2020 Exams

  • About 26 lakh students of ages between 16-18 years are supposed to appear for the NEET and JEE Main 2020 exams. Considering their age and current situation, their parents are likely to accompany them to the exam centers. Such large scale gatherings at NEET and JEE Main 2020 exam centers in September can further increase the number of COVID-19 cases.
  • Considering that COVID-19 has been found to be airborne and may be asymptomatic, there are strong chances that students may get infected with the virus at the center and later on spread it to other family members at their homes.
  • There are a number of NEET and JEE Main 2020 aspirants living in areas affected adversely by floods, landslides or rain and are facing ‘acute humanitarian crisis’ due to the natural disaster as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A number of aspirants are also living in containment zones or in areas where lockdown is still enforced. It would be difficult for such students to make it to the exam center.
  • There are students whose exam centers are 1,000 km apart from their place of residence and because of the restricted rail, air, or road travel and COVID-19 such students would be unable to travel. 

Advocate Srivastava has tweeted that a letter will also be submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today. He also stated that he might approach the SC again next week in the same regard. 

According to reports, SC had dismissed the plea for the postponement of the JEE Main and NEET September exams filed by 11 students from across states. In one of his tweets, Advocate Srivastava stated that SC had told that there were two petitions filled. One seeing the conduct of exams while the other seeking postponement.

In light of the exam to be conducted as scheduled, Justice Arun Mishra stated 'If exams are not held, won't it be a loss to the country? Students will lose the academic year'.

Even though approaches are being made to reach SC with the plea, Srivastava has advised students to keep preparing for their JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020 exams. 

Every year, about 1 million students give the JEE Main examinations. This year around 9,35,000 students have registered for JEE Main 2020. Only about 12,000 seats are available across IITs every year.

When it comes to NEET, almost 1.5 million students compete for only 50,000 seats to seek admission into undergraduate courses at medical colleges every year.

Check: List of NEET 2020 Exam Centers