A day after Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had asked the state Advocate-General to join hands with other states to move the court against the Centre over its decision to conduct NEET and JEE exams, Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla on Thursday said that the BJP led Union Government was imposing examinations on students, ignoring the fact of fear of life.
“But we will not compromise with the lives of students. That is why the Congress party has taken a decision to stand with the protesting students and their parents,” said Singla while taking the Centre iron handedly, which is adamant to conduct the exams in September.
Singla said that the State Government would soon file a collective review petition in the Supreme Court. “Amid fears of COVID pandemic reaching its peak in September, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has directed the state Advocate-General to take up the matter with his counterparts in other opposition ruled states for filing a collective review petition seeking postponement of the examinations,” he added.
Underlining that the safety of students is paramount for us, Singla made it clear that in case, the Central Government is adamant to conduct examinations, these “should be held online by shunning the practice of holding physical examinations”.
Joining in, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar said that the Modi government was playing with the lives of millions of youth who had voted it to power with “illogical insistence” on conducting JEE Main and NEET examinations.
Jakhar asked whether the lives of students were worth less for the Modi government than MPs or MLAs.
“It is for the first time in the history of the Parliament, the seating arrangement of the MPs was being changed on a large scale to ensure their health safety before convening of the Parliament. Will it be appropriate to put the health of millions of students who will have to sit together in the examination centers,” he questioned.
The Pradesh Congress chief said that in fact the Modi government was adamant to conduct these examinations only because Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was the first to demand that these examinations should not be held at this critical stage.
“The Modi government is now playing with the lives of the people for the sole purpose of discrediting Rahul and that too at a time when the Corona epidemic is at its peak in the country,” he said.
Commenting on Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’s statement on 'Silent Majority', he said that it was not a silent majority but a 'compulsion of the people being forcibly silenced'.
The Congress leader urged the Modi government to give up its stubbornness and conduct these examinations only when the situation improves a little.