JEE, NEET 2020: Actor Sonu Sood backs students' demand to postpone examination

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Actor Sonu Sood in a still from Dabangg
Actor Sonu Sood in a still from Dabangg

New Delhi : Actor Sonu Sood has come in support of the demand raised by students to postpone the upcoming JEE and NEET 2020 examinations amid coronavirus pandemic, saying it will not be right to force the students to come out and give the exam.

"We have to support these students. 26 lakh students are going to appear in these exams," Mr Sood told NDTV.

He mentioned that the students must be provided with two to three month time so that they can be mentally prepared for the examination.

"The maximum students are from Bihar where 13 to 14 districts are badly hit by the floods. How can you expect them to travel? They don't have money or places to stay. We cannot force these students to come out and give these exams," the actor said.

The two key exams - the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for admission to the Indian Institute of Technology and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical courses - are scheduled to be held next month. 

Several politicians across parties have also backed the demand to postpone the exams, highlighting that the move was not only unsafe because of COVID-19, but also unjust due to floods in parts of some states such as Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Karnataka, among others.

"Give them a window of two month. We need to postpone the exams till November-December. Students can take the exams when they are mentally prepared," Sonu Sood said.

"I am also an engineer. I believe that it is very important fort the country to hae a new breed of these young people who are going to take over a lot of departments."

Meanwhile, the NTA has announced guidelines for the students appearing for the examinations.