The Congress on Friday undertook nationwide protests against the Centre’s decision to go ahead with the Medical and Engineering entrance examinations at a time when COVID-19 is spreading fast. The party is attempting to project the government’s stand on the exams as ‘insensitive’ and ‘uncaring of the interests of the students’.
Leading the party’s charge against the Centre’s decision on NEET-JEE entrance exams, which is scheduled to be held in September, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in a video released as part of a social media campaign on the issue, said that the government should take the views of the students into consideration while deciding on the exam dates.
“Students are our future. We depend on them to build a better India. Therefore, if any decision has to be taken regarding their future, it is important that it is taken with their concurrence,” she said.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter, asking people to join the party’s social media campaign with the hashtag #SpeakUpForStudentSafety. Later, in a video message, he said it was clear that the government had mishandled the COVID-19 situation, causing a lot of devastation and pain to the country.
“Now, what I don’t understand is why you should be held responsible and why further pain should be imposed on you. I don’t understand what you have done that is wrong,” he said in the message addressed to the students.
“I can clearly see that the government has been incompetent. So why should the government force anything on you. It is important that the government listens to the students. They are wise, they have the interests of this country at heart. And any decision that is made with regard to these exams is made after a conversation and after a consensus has been developed,” he said.
Rahul also urged the government to listen to the students and resolve the issue. “Please, you have already caused enough destruction to them. You have hurt the students of this country,” he said.
AICC General Secretary in charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted that the government cannot ignore the voices of the students and their concerned parents. “They are the future of our country. With the rising scale of the pandemic, is it fair to expose them to infection in this manner? Are they not our children too?” she said.
She noted that some things should be beyond politics and tagged the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Testing Agency and the Minister of Education in the tweet.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the government wanted to conduct the same exam, which was not held in May because of COVID-19, in September when the pandemic is at its peak.
AICC General Secretary in charge of Organisation K.C. Venugopal, who participated in a protest organised in Delhi, said, “Where is the safety for the students? Without ensuring safety, how will the students have the mental peace to write the exams? The government has to consider these factors before finalising the date.”
The Congress held nationwide protests, with state units of the party holding protests in front of central government offices at state and district headquarters. The party maintained that all the protest gatherings took place following strict social distancing protocols issued by the respective health and civic authorities.
In the national capital, Congress party members led by Delhi Congress President Anil Chaudhary held a demonstration outside Shastri Bhawan, which houses the Ministry of Education. “The Congress is with the students who the government is forcing into a dangerous situation by exposing them to the virus. Besides the risk of infection, there are logistical issues involved because of COVID-19 restrictions,” Chaudhary said. He was later detained along with the other protesters by Delhi Police.
The party’s agitation against the entrance exams being held during the pandemic coincided with opposition-ruled states approaching the Supreme Court, seeking postponement of the exams.
The Congress president had on August 26 held a meeting with opposition chief ministers, in which the issue of holding NEET-JEE exams during COVID-19 was discussed and it was decided that the opposition-ruled states would move the Supreme Court against the decision of the central government to go ahead with the exams.
The principal opposition party recognises the concerns over the NEET-JEE exams as an opportunity to reach out to the youth constituency, which it has failed to appeal to in recent times. The line adopted by the party is that the Narendra Modi government is being callous with regard to the safety concerns as also the logistical issues raised by the students.
