Can JEE be deferred for students from flood-hit areas, asks HC

Nagpur: Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Monday directed respondents, including the central government, to consider whether Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Mains) could be postponed for students residing in flood-hit areas who are unable to reach exam centres.
While issuing notices to National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts the JEE and others, a division bench of Justices Ravi Deshpande and Pushpa Ganediwala fixed the hearing on Tuesday morning at 8.30am since the exam would commence from 9am.
“The examination is to commence from September 1 at 9am and hence matter is urgent. We, therefore, passed an order on submission made by the registry (judicial), to take up the issue in public interest litigation with intimation to government pleader and assistant solicitor general of India (ASGI),” the judges noted.
HC took suo motu cognizance of a letter by a student from Bhandara Nitesh Bawankar, who highlighted problems being faced by students from Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gondia and Gadchiroli districts that are severely hit by incessant rains and floods since last few days.
Many urban and rural areas in these districts were inundated due to release of waters from dams, including Gosikhurd in the last couple of days, while rescue and relief operations continued by the government.
HC also added collectors of all five districts as respondents along with Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) commissioner and asked them to file replies by Tuesday.
“It is informed to us that under the Disaster Management Act, the collector in an area, which is not a municipal corporation, can take a decision for holding or postponing of examination at a particular centre. If the area is covered by municipal corporation, then authority under the Act is civic chief,” the bench noted.