Congress leaders detained while staging stir against holding of JEE, NEET

Delhi Congress leaders and workers, including its president Anil Kumar, were detained by police on Friday during a protest against the holding of the JEE and NEET exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several Congressmen were detained by the police near the Shastri Bhawan and taken to the Mandir Marg police station, Kumar said.

"The Centre and its education ministry are endangering the lives of 25 lakh students by being adamant on holding the JEE and NEET when the number of coronavirus cases is going up in the country," he said.

The Delhi Congress chief said despite opposition from many states as well as from students and their parents, the Centre is not reconsidering its decision, which is unfortunate.

"We are only requesting the Modi government and its education ministry to postpone the two exams for some days till the COVID-19 situation is under control," he said.

While the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled to be held on September 13, engineering entrance exam JEE-Main has been planned from September 1-6. Around 8.58 lakh candidates have registered for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Main and 15.97 lakh have registered for the NEET.

The exams have been deferred twice in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.