Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday proposed that her counterparts in various states together move the Supreme Court against its order for holding JEE and NEET examinations and appeal for its postponement if the Centre is unwilling to do so.
She also added that state governments are being 'bulldozed' and their rights are being curtailed by the Centre in the name of cooperative federalism.
At a meeting called by Mamata Banerjee and Sonia Gandhi, Opposition Chief Ministers on Wednesday called for a united fight against the government's move to hold engineering and medical entrance exams in the middle of the pandemic.
Banerjee said aspiring students will face enormous trouble due to the ongoing restrictions across the country and requested Opposition Chief Ministers to move together to the Apex Court.
Blaming the Centre for announcing the exam dates amidst the ongoing pandemic and restrictions due to it, she said the students are facing a lot of hardships as travel by air and roads are yet to resume fully.
"Students are facing a lot of hardships and the decision by the Centre will harm them during the pandemic," Banerjee said adding that if the law permits then Chief Ministers of various states can take the initiative and file a joint appeal at the Apex Court.
"Let us go to the Supreme Court. Let us talk about this matter. This is a mental agony for students. I have not seen so many atrocities in a democracy. The situation is very serious. We have to speak up for the children," Banerjee said.
"I have written to the Prime Minister twice requesting him to postpone the decision to hold NEET/JEE exams. I also requested him to intervene as the Supreme Court has already passed an order and the Centre can appeal against it.
"But there has been no response. So if the Centre can't appeal then the states for the sake of the students should jointly appeal and move to SC on this issue," Banerjee said during Sonia Gandhi's virtual meeting with Opposition party Chief Ministers.
Her comment comes a day after she wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the Centre to appeal against the Supreme Court order for holding the JEE and NEET examinations during the COVID-19 outbreak.
She wrote to Modi after the state government received a letter from the National Testing Agency on Tuesday to conduct the JEE/NEET examinations starting from September 1, 2020. Lashing out at the Centre for not releasing funds due to the Bengal government, Banerjee said in the name of cooperative federalism it is bulldozing the rights of the state.
"Our government is yet to get Rs 53,000 crore from the Union government. The federal structure is being bulldozed. It is using central agencies against the state government. No one is allowed to talk against the Central government," she said.
The virtual meeting, which was telecast live on Wednesday afternoon, was attended by Banerjee, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, apart from four chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, including Captain Amarinder Singh of Punjab, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, and V Narayanasamy of Puducherry.
The Chief Ministers discussed that since the exams start in a week, the next move would have to be fast.
The JEE is scheduled from September 1 to 6 and the NEET exam is to be held on September 13. Soren made an impassioned case for not having the exams now. He said both his parents were Coronavirus positive.
"Exams must happen, but we are hurrying up. In my state, we have very few centres. To accommodate these students, we will have to open all hotels and buses. Chances of contracting Covid will be higher. The Centre must help by taking more time. Otherwise, the Centre will blame states all over again if something goes wrong. We will have to jointly raise these issues," he added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said: "We have to decide whether we want to fear or fight the government. The people who elected the BJP at the Centre also elected all of us. But if we do something it is paap (sin) and if they do anything then it is punya (virtuous)?" He pointed out that while his state was gradually emerging from the lockdown with schools remaining shut.
The Chief Ministers said they need to "together fight Centre for undermining states' rights". Amarinder Singh said he had written to the Prime Minister three times to delay exams. "I endorse Mamata Banerjee's view that we should collectively approach the Supreme Court again," he said.
Soren suggested that before going to the Supreme Court, the Chief Ministers should meet with the Prime Minister.
Sonia Gandhi, fresh out of a crisis, called the meeting along with Banerjee in an attempt to evolve a united opposition response on the exams and on compensation to states who have reported a loss of revenue because of the pandemic ahead of a meeting of the GST council on Thursday.
"The refusal to compensate states on GST is nothing short of betrayal by the Modi government of states and the people," Sonia Gandhi said.
Over 14 lakh admit cards for the medical and engineering entrance exams — NEET and JEE — were downloaded after the National Testing Agency (NTA) released them on Wednesday, even as the issue was discussed extensively during the CMs' meeting.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, who wrote to the Prime Minister demanding postponement of JEE Main and NEET exams, has asked students to "not lose hope". His statement comes despite the National Testing Agency (NTA) confirming that it won't defer the exams. "At this stage I cannot guarantee anything but don't yet lose hope on the exam question," Swamy said in a tweet. In another, he asked Modi to "empathise" with the students.