The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) started an indefinite hunger strike on Wednesday against the conduct of the scheduled Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) during the pandemic.

The student wing of the Congress said that despite the opposition and concerns raised by the students’ community, the government is moving forward with the decision of conducting the ill-scheduled exams when coronavirus (COVID-19) cases are rising.

NSUI national president Neeraj Kundan, who started his hunger strike demanding the postponement of the NEET and the JEE, asked the government to consider conducting exams using alternative methods.

“We demand the postponement of NEET, JEE and NET considering the safety and security of students and their family members and waive off the fees for at least six months, considering the economic distress due to the lockdown,” Mr. Kundan said.

He added that the NSUI was afraid that conducting examination would deny the constitutional promise of equal opportunity to the aspirants as many parts of India are still under the lockdown, making accessibility a major problem.

Alternative method

Apart from the NSUI, Delhi’s Education Minister Manish Sisodia also reiterated his stand on the conduct of the NEET and the JEE exam, calling for its postponement.

In a letter to the Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, Mr. Sidodia said that he was not calling for a zero academic year but for the government to find an alternative method for selecting students in engineering and medical competitive entrance examinations.

He pointed out that despite following all protocols, several ministers and lakhs of Indians tested positive for the virus and that the lives of 28 lakh students would be at risk even if they followed all the norms to prevent the spread of the virus.

“I appeal to the government not to be adamant on admission only through these exams. We are not at all saying that the year be declared as a zero academic year. We are not in favour of admitting students just like that as we will need quality doctors and engineers but banking upon only a three-hour exam and expecting it to work like a magic wand in identifying talent, is a very conservative thought,” Mr. Sisodia said.