Rahul Gandhi tweeted on the centre's move to allow JEE and NEET amid coronavirus pandemic
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today criticised the centre over what he said was "ignoring genuine concerns" of students who are giving entrance exams for engineering and medical courses and other career streams.
The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for admission to the Indian Institute of Technology started today and will end on September 6. The JEE and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) are being held to ensure that students don't lose an academic year amid the coronavirus pandemic, the centre has said.
"Modi Govt is jeopardising India's future. Arrogance is making them ignore the genuine concerns of the JEE-NEET aspirants as well as the demands of those who took SSC and other exams. Give jobs, not empty slogans," Mr Gandhi tweeted today.
The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) will hold eight recruitment exams in October- November. The list includes combined higher secondary level exam, junior engineer selection exam, combined graduate level exam and others.
The Congress and other opposition parties have been attacking the government for holding the exams at a time when coronavirus cases in India has been rising fast.
To minimise the risk coronavirus infection, students appearing for the JEE are wearing masks and hand gloves and carrying a personal bottle of water and hand sanitiser to the exam centres.
Several states have given free transport to the students to reach their exam centres.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts key entrance exams in the country has said if the entrance exams are postponed further, they will put students of government colleges at a disadvantage as against private college students who do not need to appear for competitive exams and have already started an online module.
Mr Gandhi's swipe at the government over jobs also comes at a time when the country's economy fell to its worst on record in the April-June quarter, with the gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 23.9 per cent as the coronavirus lockdown weighed on the already declining consumer demand and investment.
Recovery is also uncertain as India is quickly becoming the global epicentre for coronavirus infections.