Dear Dr Nishank and Dr Harshvardhan ji,
As you are well aware, about 27 Lakh students (15 Lakh NEET + 12 Lakh JEE) have applied to appear for NEET-JEE Exams which are scheduled to be held on 13th Sept and 1st – 6th Sept respectively.
Since the evening of August 15, I have been flooded with appeals from countless students across diverse regions of India via Twitter, Email and phone calls,urging me to lend support to their eminently reasonable demand that the NEET-JEE examinations this year be postponed. Sadly, the competent authorities have not yet responded to their concerns.
Here are the compelling reasons they have put forward for justifying postponement of the exams:
- The current condition of Covid-19 in the country is alarming with over 66+ thousand cases being registered on a daily basis. Since a total of around 15 Lakh NEET and 12 Lakh JEE aspirants are to sit for the exam, the exam centers are bound to be over-crowded.
- Parents and other relatives (old and middle-aged) would obviously accompany their wards, thus, adding to the numbers that will gather at the examination centers;
- The KCET exam and B.Ed exam in UP amply demonstrated how all the promised SOP guidelines and rules laid down by the Govt. were openly flouted and thrown to the wind.
- Considering top notch politicians, ministers and bureaucrats who are following all Govt mandated SOPs and function in highly sanitized and ‘safe’ environments are getting infected daily as well, it is obvious that these students and their guardians accompanying them to these over-crowded exam centers will be put at risk of catching the deadly infection;
- There are only two districts in Bihar which are conducting the exams at their centers and nearly 90 thousand students have applied and are scheduled to appear at these centers.The numbers will thus be unmanageable and put lakhs of families at risk;
- Railways have shut operations till Sept 30th, buses are allowed only to a certain extent which is not enough to accommodate this number of students while maintaining the protocols of social distancing.
- Not all can afford private transport as majority of these aspirants are not from privileged backgrounds. In these times of great economic distress, the inflated charges for hiring private transport will make it difficult for many to appear for the exam;
- Most students have their examination centers at a distance of around 100 kms or even more and are in States deluged with floods. Such students may not be able to reach exam centers;
- Many IIT Directors as well as Director of AIIMS have publicly stated that there will be no academic loss even if the exam is held in the month of November. Therefore, the Govt of India should heed this counsel;
- It is impractical to continuously wear masks for more than 5-6 hours in this hot and muggy weather. It will surely cause unnecessary stress and anxiety to the already stressed out aspirants and is likely to adversely affect their performance ;
- A Petition for the postponement of the NEET-JEE exam has already been filed in Supreme Court. However, many coaching giants have hired good lawyers and filed a counter petition for Non-Postponement of exams just to serve their business interests;
- NTA DG, Mr. Vineet Joshi has not paid any heed to these requests of the aspirants even though in the past 20 days more than million tweets have been addressed by them to MHRD and NTA.
- Surveys conducted by various channels show that more than 87% of the aspirants want the postponement of these exams, yet the issue has not been addressed by the Ministry of HRD or NTA till date.
- WHO itself has stated that while the Corona infection spreads mainly by droplets from person to person, it can also travel through small droplets or aerosols that remainsuspended in the air for some time. Dr. Soumya Swamination, Chief Scientist of the WHO put out a tweet in which she cautioned that “In closed, crowded settings, the aerosol spread could happen and precautions should be taken.“
- In the UGEE examination on 23rd June 2020, students were seated just 1 foot apart while PM Modi has mentioned repeatedly that at least 6 feet gap is mandatory.
- Most importantly this exam was also conducted by "TCS Ion", which also conducts the NEET and JEE examinations.
- 4000 students are stranded in DUBAI, as Air Travel to and fro Gulf countries have been suspended. They will be adversely affected for no fault of theirs;
- Covid-19 positive patients also are not allowed to appear for the exam.
- The SC Petition Details: Diary: 16527-2020. Adv. ALAKH ALOK SHRIVASTAVA
I am posting a sample of emails received by mesince this morning indicating how stressed and panicked these students are. I am also publishing photographs sent by these students including visuals of their flooded homes.
The emails I received are being published verbatim
1) From: amananand <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 1:42 PM
Subject: Postponement of neet and jee exam
To: <[email protected]>
Ma'am, Here are somepoints why we need postponement of exams
1) the current condition of covid-19 is alarming, daily 66 thousand+ cases in that condition going from my home to exam centre will be extremely dangerous as 15 lakh neet and nearly 12 lakh jee applicants are going to appear.
My father is a heart patient and i don't want to risk his life ( as he will never let me go alone to exam centre and will stay there till my exam is over) as we have seen there were no measures for prevention of crowding outside examination centre.
2) In bihar there are centres in only two districts were nearly 90 thousand students have applied, railway is closed, buses are allowed to some extent but we don't thing that there are enough buses to accomodate all of us while maintaing social distancing.
3) Not all of us are born with privileages as some of the students we cannot afford private cabs. Nor we will be able to get proper treatment if we got affected,
I have seen the conditions in govt. Hospital.
4) Examination means everyone get equal opportunity and they current scenario is not promising that.
Help us. I am not alone there are thousand of us
5) for some examination centre is 100 of km away how they will be able to reach examination centre.
_____________________________________
2) From: Rahul Hage <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 1:21 PM
Subject: Postponement of NEET and JEE
To: <[email protected]>
Respected Mam, Mam i am the NEET aspirant. I am writing this to highlight we are facing the issue of Corona pandemic our case filed in SC. and current situation is not suitable to conduct a National level exam where 25 lakhs students appear and their lives are in threat.
1.Transportation is main problem and it shut and its dangerous also no SOP follow and poor students not afforded private cars cost.
2.Many of us center are about 300km+ no resources are available no buses no trains and many has 500km+hotels not safe to stay .we easily got infection.
.Many of students are covid affected how they give exam in such pandemic situation we want to postpone the exam till normalacy and many are Asymptomatic We are future of our country and gov.put our lives in danger.
3.Corona is AIRBORNE and by conducting exam our lives is in threat and also my family also got infection through me so who is responsible for this.GOVERNMENT or NTA take responsibility of us?
4.In Hospitals no beds are available and hospitals staff doesn't care about patients and WE ARE NOT RICH TO PAY LAKHS OF BILLS
5.Many states are flood affected please think about them
6.SOP's are good only on paper we all saw what is the condition of KCET and UP.BED like exam where inside SOP's not get followed and outside massive crowd No one follow the SOP's so many of Students get infected. we are more Scared about our and our family health.
7.Like me Lakhs of students suffering from Mental stress sir please
8.IIT director and AIIMS director also said that no Academic loss will happen if exam held in November they can manage it.
________________________________________________________________
3) From: ShannuShannu <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 1:09 PM
Subject: Please help us in postponing JEE Main and NEET
To: <[email protected]>
Respected madam, We need your help. As the Covid-19 Virus is transmitting exponentially, we will be in grave danger if exams are conducted in September . For many of us, the centers are situated hundreds of kilometers away from our houses. Travelling amid this crisis is something that we cannot afford either as the railways are closed till September 30. The government is promising us safety by stating that the SOP will be followed. But, we do not trust them. We have already seen how high level buerocrats and politicians who are in a sanitized environment with the SOP in tact are getting infected. How can we expect protection in heavily crowded examination centers. We have to keep wearing masks for 5 to 6 hours straight, which also does not seem practically possible. And also the floods are taking a toll on many people. We are not in a good space mentally to give the exam. So, Postponement is the solution to problem, because many directors of IIT have agreed to the fact that academic calendar can be organized even if exams are postponed. So, I see no reason why exam should not be postponed. We need your help in this regard.
_____________________________________
4)On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 1:42 PM Saurabh Singh <[email protected]> wrote:
Respected Madam, Ma'am We are pleading before the HRD Ministry and Education Minister Dr. RP Nishank Ji from the past 20 days, but still, he has not addressed the issue even once. We have filed a petition in this regard. But the coaching giants have hired few parents to file for NON POSTPONEMENT for the sake of their business. Our lives are at stake and these coaching mafias are worried about their income. Your support would be highly beneficial for us ma'am. The NTA DG Vineet Joshi seems completely adamant and egoistic. He is not taking our concerns seriously. More than a million aspirants tweeted to the HRD, Education Minister, and the NTA but still, we are not being addressed. We are in severe mental pressure. If the exam is not postponed, it will put our lives at stake.
More than 16 lakh students appear for NEET-UG and more than 11 lakh students appear for JEE MAINS. A total of 25 lakh+ students will appear for these exams. The surveys conducted by various channels showed that more than 87% of the aspirants want postponement yet the issue is unheard by the Ministry so far.
Our issues:
1. With 65000 cases being reported every day since 7 August and India crossing the 25 lakh mark, a sense of panic has set in. That any exposure to the outside world, particularly where so many students and parents will be assembled, is fraught with risk. The death toll has crossed 50,000 and it's a serious issue.
2. The authorities who conducted the Karnataka Common Entrance Test and the B.Ed entrance exam in Uttar Pradesh did not cover themselves with glory. Social distancing was thrown to the winds at several centers with no discipline maintained outside the exam centers.
3. Eminent people like former President Pranab Mukherjee, legendary singer SP Balasubrahmanyam have contracted the Corona infection and students ask if those who take sufficient precautions are contracting the virus, how can students who will be in close proximity to hundreds of people on the day of the exam be safe. The fact that Lav Agarwal, the Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry and the face of the government’s fight against COVID, has tested COVID positive, is a point that cannot be missed.
4. Finally, the WHO itself has said now that while Corona infection spreads mainly by droplets from person to person, it can also be through small droplets or aerosols that remain in the air for some time and through fomites. Dr. Soumya Swamination, Chief Scientist of the WHO put out a tweet in which she cautioned that in closed, crowded settings, the aerosol spreadcould happen and precautions should be taken. “The science is evolving,” she added.
Therefore, we demand postponement till normalcy restores and we can give exams than with no mental pressure. The majority of us are 17-18 YO students. Your help would mean a lot to us, ma'am. Thanks in advance.
With regards,
A NEET-UG Aspirant
__________________________________________
5)From: AsђutoʂђRath <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 1:22 PM
Subject: Regaring NEET POSTPONE
To: <[email protected]>
U r the only hope of we students………..My exam centre in ODISHA is 250 KM from my place. Public TRANSPORT aint available and How Will I travel there and Where Will I stay there atleastfro a minimunm of 2 days I have to be accompanied by my FTAHER as well and U know they r very prone to disease even if I have immunity , I cant risk my father after knowing that 16 LKAH aspirants will be giving the exams.. Alreadya PETOTION is FIleld in supreme Court but 4 other petitions r seeking for not [ostponement. This si a seriosuissue , I have been preparing for last 3 years for this exam and now my parents r saying NOT TO GIVE THE EXAM cosndiering PANDEMIC is at its peak in GANJAM District where my exam centre is there…The future citizens of the country shouldnt be dealt in thsi way and Thsi is violation of ARTICLE 14A and ARTICLE 21
_________________________________________________
6)On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:56 PM Abhinav Pandey <[email protected]> wrote:
Respected MADAM, I am a dropper and preparing for JEE 2020 the Conducting body NTA(National Testing Agency) working under MHRD has said that it will conduct this "PAN INDIA Exam" from 1st September 2020 to 6th September 2020. We are in Anxiety coz the HRD Ministry hasn't clarified anything about the Conduction of the examination.India is Facing a Pandemic and on top of that conducting these exams for more than "Thirteen Lakh Students" is surely a bad Idea. I prevail from Bengaluru the Karnataka Government conducted the KCET on 30&31st July 2020 and it was a failure. They promised that all strict Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) will be followed during the examination but it was a failure on the state level conduction. Similarly UGEE and UP BEd examinations were also on the toss. No SOP's followed no Care for the Students.
I have noted a few points and facts regarding the same.
1*) No transport facilities provided( IRCTC is shut down except some special routes)("no trains running from rural areas to cities where exam centres are given") 2*) SOP's are just the letter's issued by the top officials of the conducting body but the conducting organisation's and committee member's dont take it seriously—(KCET,KEAM,UP BEd,UGEE,SSLC).The State's have failed on conducting the exam's how can we trust the Centre. 3*)WHO has said don't take risk "young generation is also as vulnerable as the older ones", more over there is no clue about the long term devastating effects of the virus 4) Nearly 3250 students will gather at each centre [1300000/400] for JEE 5*) There are no exam centres given for foreign aspirants and no flights running from gulf and foreign countries [they must have also prepared for nearly 2 years] 6*) In UGEE the students were seated with just 1 feet gap–(Modi ji said 6 feet gap mandatory) and most importantly this exam was also conducted by "TCS Ion" on 23rd June 2020 7) Since all the Top Educational institutions and their Directors have said that they will start the academic year from Jan 2021 what is the hurry in conducting the exams 8*) The JEE(M) is held from {1st Sept-6th Sept} suppose a student contracts covid at that time he surely wont be allowed for JEE (adv) and would have too face a worse Mental and Emotional trauma. 9*) The country is going through worse(flood in Bihar,Assam,Rajasthan,Gujrat,Keralaetc,jobloss,Pandemic,demises in the family due to covid), Govt hospital beds are sold for huge prices illegally, you can't force a student to write the exam in the pandemic and also considering the no. of new cases daily India is going through 10*)In April when the cases where merely 500 the government decided to postpone just because health was their priority and now since the active cases is in Lakhs why are they focusing more on the academics and not even slight of it on the health. why such hypocrisy ?
11) At the end it's the state which decides and provides the arrangements of the exam and corrupt governments won't leave any chance to risk people's life just because they want to start academic year
_______________________________________
7)On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:55 PM Gowtham reddy<[email protected]> wrote:
Respected madam,Due to severe covid situation and floods in India. We are afraid of going out and attending examination. Though we are tweeting, the government is not even responding.So, mam please help us. Thank you, Yours sincerely,
Gowtham Reddy, Neet aspirant
_________________________________________________________
8)From: Ujjwal Sahu <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Request for postponement of jee main exam
To: <[email protected]>
UJJWAL SAHU JEE ASPIRANT, MA'AM I REQUEST YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART TO KINDLY ASSESS THE PROBLEM OF JEE NEET STUDENTS. GOVERNMENT IS ADAMANT TO CONDUCT THE EXAM,BUT WE WANT POSTPONEMENT OF EXAMS DUE TO FOLLOWING REASONS-
1) WEARING MASKS FOR THREE HOURS IS NOT POSSIBLE,SINCE IT LEADS TO SUFFOCATION
2)GIVING EXAMS UNDER SO MUCH STRESS WOULD LEAD TO POOR PERFORMANCE IN RESULTS.
3) TRANSPORTATION IS ALSO A MAJOR ISSUE
4)IF I GOT INFECTED DUE TO CORONA ,HOW I WOULD GIVE MY JEE ADVANCE EXAM
AT LAST MAAM PLEASE REPLY
_____________________________________________________________
9)From: shikha pandey <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:25 PM
Subject: regarding postponement of JEE MAINS 2020 AND Neet 2020
To: <[email protected]>
mam,My name is Shikha pandey. I live in Karnataka (wadi) my area is filled with covid-19 cases. My application number is 200310046278 .As the cases are increasing it will be very difficult for us to attend the exam center as trains are also not available. please sir , postpone the dates of jee main a little further. As the vaccine is about to be launched..we should wait till the safe time.
Though the recovery rate is good but, we still don't know about the long term impact of covid-19 on our body. WHO says it may have the capacity to damage various organs. please sir do no put our lives on stake. postpone jee 2020 sir till the situation normalises a little . It is not only a humble request sir ..but we beg you to please put our health over the exam sir.
______________________________________________________________
10)From: KabilanThiru <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:24 PM
Subject: Fwd: postpone jee main
To: <[email protected]>
respected sir/mam, As im from village in Tamil Nadu,i need to travel nearly 150km for my exam center in my containment zone,there is no proper availability of transport ,and many asymptomatic cases are coming in my district even my neighbhours are in home quaratine.Im very scared to come out,alreadyim a weak nutrient,i feel very scared to give my exam.With the fear of covid-19 how will i be able to give my 100% in jeemain,my 2 yrs of preparation is not a joke.The only success for the preparation is giving our best at the right time ,how will i give my 100%.Please postpone the exam,conduct at a normal situation..
If exams are conducted, some will get the virus,think about their family members,think about the family of people died due to covid-19 .cases are rapidly increasing,pls consider our lives.health over exams
_________________________________________________________
11)From: ShamshadAlam <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:22 PM
Subject: Postpone jee and neet
To: <[email protected]>
I shamshadalam, a jee aspirant from lucknow. I am very depressed. I am unable to think what to do. In my neighborhood two young people died due to corona. Corona is killing young people too. I am not going outside the home. Government is conducting a national level exam in such a pandemic. It will risk our lives. It must be postponed. Please postpone jee and neet.
Shamshadalam( jee aspirant)
________________________________________________________
12)From: Tejas Saharan <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:19 AM
Subject: Postponement of NEET and JEE exams
To: <[email protected]>
Mam, the growing foreboding due to widespread corona virus in India makes it difficult for students to sit for such exams. Both the exams are to held in time lapse of 1-13 sept. NEET for medical and JEE for eng. Nearly 27 lakh students plus their respective guardians would gather at the venues. If infected mere 1% death rate would kill hundreds of them and new infection chains would emerge. Postponement is the best remedy since large number of applicants are from States showing no sign of control, some States are running low in exam centre numbers, Bihar having just 2. Mam students only want postponement not cancellation, the government seems to be blind towards the students, if infected hospitals would charge lakhs of rupees. The government acknowledges the SOPs but the greatest of themselves like Amit shah ji, Pranab mukharji and many more are suffering altogether. The UP B. Ed. Exams with mere 4lakh applicants show the shattered social distancing norms, 27 is still a large number. Mam I have attached all the important pics as a prove to above said. Thank you
______________________________________________________________
13)From: debasishpadhy <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:42 PM
Subject: PLEASE HELP 26 LAKH JEE NEET STUDENTS
To: <[email protected]>
Mam,In this difficult times of covid-19 , we are forced to appear for our exams from sept 1 to 6 and sept 13 respectively We have a plethora of problems:
1) We belong to middle class families. ALL PUBLIC TRANSPORT like TRAINS aren't Functioning and we don't have any acess to reach to our Centres which are 100s of km away.
2) Larger parts of country like Bihar, UP, Assam are in grim flood situation
3) The bill in hospitals for a corona patient is in 5 to 10 lakh
We cannot afford it, INCASE WE ARE INFECTED
11 lakh students appear for JEE
16.92 lakh students appear for NEET
4) 4000 students stranded in DUBAI, ARE DENIED TO APPEAR FOR EXAM
Reason: International Flights are stopped and Vande Bharat Mission doesn't consider them!
5) A covid-19 positive patient will be denied to appear for the exam
Due to All this we request you to help
We bow down.Please help us.PLEASE DO SOMETHING FOR US.PLEASE
____________________________________________________________
14)From: Usain Bolt <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:27 PM
Subject: NEET Jee postponement
To: <[email protected]>
Mam, I am Neet aspirant & as you know the conditions are not at all good for exam conduction. NTA says the SoP's will be followes but in no way its possible for them to manage the crowding outisde the center ..we have already seen it happen in kcet and UPBed exams.
Our main request is that could you please make our HRD Minister Mr. Ramespokhriyalnishank ji and Dr. Harsh Vardhan to postpone these exams asap or atleast give some clarification on what's their stand on this..becuase we're really depressed. We have also filed a petition in supreme court whose hearing is tomorrow Diary: 16527-2020 Adv. ALAKH ALOK SHRIVASTAVA IS fighting our case but he has asked for more PIL's so could you also a file a new PIL for postponement we would be so grateful
_________________________________________________________________
15) From: raghavnandwana <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 2:25 PM
Subject: JEE NEET POSTPONEMENT
To: Madhu Kishwar<[email protected]>
Maam please come forward to support us, I am a JEE aspirant, and my grandparents are in their 70s. My grandmother is least immune in our family. Government Is adamant to conduct JEE which has 11lac. Aspirants and NEET which has 15lac. Aspirants. I might be a carrier of the virus for my family. I don't want them to suffer. Maam please help us and ask government to postpone the exams. We only demand postponement. Please help. Thankyou
______________________________________________________________
16) From: SSßGürjàr <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 2:34 PM
Subject: Regarding Postponement of NEET&JEE
To: <[email protected]>
Ma'am,We are very afraid of our life. We don't want to give exam during this pandemic. If Former President PRANAB MUKARJEE, Union Minister, Amit Shah, Karnataka CM, who are in very precautionary state. They can Infectes.
Than we will definitely be because we will be encountered with thousands of students altogether.
If we only get infected no problem but I care My Parents than Myself. Please SAVE US. From this Pandemic.
_____________________________________________________________________
17) From: Piyush Kumar <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 2:37 PM
Subject:
To: <[email protected]>
Respected Madam, I am Piyush Kumar Sinha from Bihar. Being an IIT-JEE aspirant I request you to help us postpone the upcoming JEE Mains paper till normalcy is restored. My reason to ask for postponement is very simple but compelling. The number of covid-19 cases are on rise in the country. I live in Bihar and everyone know the situation in Bihar is very poor. Whether be it covid-19 pandemic or floods. The state is in great trouble. My mother is a NURSE and the amount of stress my family is going through is very much specially now when the number of daily cases is so high. I have been preparing for the exams for 3 years and now when I had scored 95.9 percentile in January paper and am preparing so hard to score more and get a good college, I also don't want my family to suffer any mishap. Also the number of exam center in Bihar is very less so I will have to travel far to give the exam which also highlights the lack of transportation facilities. And renting a private car would be too expensive and unsafe. My father is also diabetic and he will surely accompany me to exam center which is very risky for his health as the so called SOP laid by the authorities have proved to be a failure in KCET , UP BEd. JEE, etc.
Therefore I request you to please support us. At last I would like to say HEALTH SHOULD ALWAYS BE GIVEN MORE IMPORTANCE THAN EXAMS. THANK YOU.
The emails and tweets are continuing to pour in. Reproducing them all is too cumbersome. In any case they are raising similar points. Therefore, I am stopping here.
