New Delhi, August 21: The Centre has confirmed that NEET 2020 and JEE exams won't be postponed, Bar and Bench reported on Friday. According to the report, Amit Khare, Secretary at the Ministry of Education, has made it clear that NEET 2020 and JEE won't be deferred. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) are to be conducted in September. NEET 2020: NTA to Release Exam Admit Cards Shortly on nta.ac.in Amid Demands For Postponement, Students Allotted Test Centres.

"NEET 2020 will not be postponed. The Supreme Court has given a very clear order," Amit Khare was quoted by Bar and Bench as saying. The Supreme Court on August 17 dismissed a plea seeking the postponement of NEET and JEE. Rejecting the petition, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra noted that the postponement of the exams will put the career of the students in peril. "When we are getting ready to open up, you say exams should not be held?" Justice Mishra told the petitioners' counsel.

The petitioner had submitted that the risk of COVID-19 was increasing and several other exams have been cancelled. Earlier today, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy spoke to Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and urged him to postpone NEET 2020 and other exams till Diwali. Swamy also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to direct the Education Ministry to postpone NEET and JEE.

In his "urgent letter" to Modi, Swamy said: "Holding the exams, in my opinion, may lead to a large number of suicides by youths around the country." The Rajya Sabha MP cited an example of Mumbai where, he claimed, "there is no public transport and people have to come from other areas, often 20 to 30 km away". This is because of the restrictions enforced at many places due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he argued.

"There is widespread desperation among the youth since this exam is a make-or-break affair for them and they have to take it when they are fully prepared," Swamy wrote to the Prime Minister. Earlier, he spoke to Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.

Pointing this out to Modi, Swamy added that Pokhriyal was "sympathetic" to his suggestion to put it off beyond Diwali. However, it needs the Prime Minister's "concurrence", he wrote. Swamy also tweeted on the Supreme Court order on the matter, saying that the apex court had "left the date (for the exam) to the government" to decide.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2020 06:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).