'I stand with them': Greta Thunberg calls for postponement of NEET, JEE exams
New Delhi, Aug 25: Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday backed the nationwide "postpone JEE NEET" movement saying conducting exams during coronavirus pandemic and extreme floods were "deeply unfair" on students.
Voicing her support to the calls for the deferment of the key national examinations, Thunberg took to Twitter, saying it is deeply unfair for the students.
"I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID," Thunberg, who has 4.1 million followers on Twitter, wrote on the microblogging website where the hashtag "MODIJI_POSTPONEJEENEET" was already trending.
It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) August 25, 2020
The chorus for postponing the various examinations, including NEET and JEE, grew louder on Sunday with over 4,000 students observing a day-long hunger strike to press for the demand in view of the rising COVID-19 cases.
The protest came on a day Gandhi said the government must listen to the 'mann ki baat' of students and arrive at "an acceptable solution" and his party demanded that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) be deferred.
'Speak up for Student Safety': Congress protests against holding JEE, NEET exams
According to the leftist All India Students Association (AISA), over 4,200 students observed the day-long hunger strike at their respective home demanding that CBSE compartment exams of Classes 10 and 12 be canceled and entrance exams such as the UGC-NET, CLAT, NEET, and JEE be postponed.
Several students and political leaders across the country, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and DMK President M K Stalin, have urged the central government to postpone the examination until the spread of the COVID-19 was brought under control.
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The JEE (Main) is scheduled to be held between September 1 and 6, while the JEE (Advanced) on September 27. The NEET will be held on September 13.
With 60,975 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India's COVID-19 tally on Tuesday rose to 31,67,323, while recoveries surged to 24,04,585, pushing the recovery rate to 75.92 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The death toll climbed to 58,390 with 848 fatalities being reported in a span of 24-hours.