Congress seeks postponement of NEET-UG 2021 citing students’ ‘mental health’

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was “inundated” with messages from NEET aspirants, seeking postponement of the exam

Congress leaders have put their weight behind students’ demand to postpone the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate (UG) medical courses, abbreviated as NEET-UG, accusing the government of insensitivity to students’ concerns.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were among the top party leaders seeking postponement of NEET-UG examinations. (PTI Photo/Representative Photo)

On Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter urging the Central government to postpone the NEET-UG 2021 exam, scheduled for September 12. The opposition leader alleged that the government was “blind” to students’ distress.

Soon, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit out, accusing the government of not caring about the mental health of aspirants. “Time after time, the government pushes on against the legitimate demands of students across India. Why is it so hard for those in power to hear out and help those who are the future of our nation? Does their mental health and well being not matter?” she tweeted with #JusticeforNEETAspirants.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was “inundated” with messages from NEET aspirants, seeking postponement of the exam. “Subjecting them to unreasonable exactions is shameful. It’s time the BJP worked for people, not for bureaucrats!” he tweeted on Tuesday.

The party’s youth wing in Assam and Odisha held protests against the state and Central governments over the alleged manipulation of Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Mains Examination, which led to the arrest of 7 people a few days ago. JEE is the national-level test for admission in undergraduate engineering courses.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal also accused the government of “insensitivity and arrogance”. She pointed out that students appearing for class 12 compartment exams will have to appear for NEET-UG examinations the very next day. She asked if this was the government’s idea of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’- Modi government’s slogan for inclusive development with support from every section of the society.

Over 1,400 students have signed an online petition on change.org to demand postponement of NEET 2021. The students argue that the medical entrance examination date is clashing with many other state and national-level entrance examinations and the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) private exams, and should therefore be postponed to next month. They say it will also give students sufficient time to prepare.

#JusticeForNEETAspirants emerged as the no.1 trend on Twitter on Tuesday as thousands of students and social media users rallied to urge postponement.

However, the Supreme Court declined to entertain pleas seeking postponement of the entrance examination on Monday and said that nearly 1.6 million students had burnt the midnight oil and any interference by the court will cause “pain and strain” to them. It however, allowed the students to approach the national testing agency, the authority that conducts the examination, for relief.