Jharkhand CM’s poll: Students back delaying NEET & JEE

Ranchi: Around 78% of the 1.78 lakh Twitter users, who took part in an online poll called by Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren over a 24-hour period that ended on Sunday night, said this year’s NEET and JEE aspirants will not face difficulties in their careers if the examinations are postponed after taking into consideration the health risks arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Late on Saturday night, Soren initiated an online polling on his verified Twitter account and sought suggestions from his “young doctor and engineer friends” about the ramifications if the exams are postponed. “I want to particularly ask and seek feedback from my young engineer and doctor friends. Will students face huge difficulties if #JEENEET exams are postponed?” The respondents were to answer in yes, no and don’t know.
Till 8pm on Sunday, 1.78 lakh users had responded to Soren’s tweet. Soren’s office said: “Till 8pm, 78% of all the respondents said postponement of the exams will not cause difficulties while 20% said they will. Around 1% said they do not know.”
The online exercise, which ended at 1am on Monday, came hours before the Supreme Court was due to hear the petition of six states against the conduct of NEET and JEE exams. While NEET is slated to begin from September 1, JEE is scheduled on September 13 and JEE (Advanced) will be held on September 27.
Explaining the rationale behind the exercise, Soren in a written response to TOI’s query, said: “The Union government has been taking decisions unilaterally amid the pandemic. I sought the opinion of students on social media to demonstrate how far away the Centre is from the ground reality and how it is trading the health and safety of the students.”
Rajshree Nayak, a Twitter user, wrote to Soren: “I am a student of IISER (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research). Given that these courses are 4.5-5 years long, the academic calendar can be easily rescheduled and extra classes can be taken to manage the course in stipulated time. Health is more valuable, given that the syllabi are manageable.”
A twitter user, who goes by the account @swamijisaveus, wrote: “We wont face any difficulties as experts and institute managements have said that the academics can be managed as it will cost us just one semester.”
As per estimates, 45,000 students from the state will appear in JEE and NEET examinations. Earlier, Soren had written to Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” seeking postponement due to the lockdown of hotels and public transport and the health risks involved. On Friday, the state government permitted hospitality sector and intra-state public transport to resume operations to facilitate the aspirants and their parents.
The BJP, which had accused the ruling mahagathbandhan of misleading students, on Sunday launched a state-level helpdesk to facilitate the aspirants. BJP’s state president Deepak Prakash said helpdesks will be set up outside all exam centres across the cities and provide all necessary assistance to the aspirants and their parents.