Six states have approached the Supreme Court petitioning for the postponement of JEE Main and NEET UG 2020 examination due to the COVID-19 situation, reports LiveLaw.in. The petition states that the previous SC order giving a green light for the conduct of the exam did not “secure the safety, security and Right to Life of the students/candidates” appearing for exams, adds the report.

The petition highlights the logistical problems of conducting an exam during a pandemic and said that previous ruling ignored the ‘teething logistical difficulties in conducting the examinations at the proposed dates.”. The previous order addresses the importance of conducting an exam to make sure that the students do not miss out on a year but fails to balance the equally important aspect of conducting the exam and securing the safety of the students, says the petition.

The states which have approach the Supreme Court include Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Jharkhand. All these states are non-BJP ruled states. However, AIADMK, a BJP ally and whose government serves the states of Tamil Nadu, also has requested the Centre to postpone the exams.

JEE Main 2020 exam, which is an entrance exam for Engineering admissions, is scheduled to be conducted from September 1 to September 6. NEET UG exam for entrance into Medical and Dental courses is scheduled to be conducted on September 13.

Congress has plans to hold a nationwide protest against the conduct the exams. Earlier on Wednesday Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had convened a meeting of chief ministers of states ruled by opposition parties.

NTA has repeatedly dismissed any request for postponement and said that the exams are being conducted keeping in mind the interest of the students so that they do not lose an academic year. Union Education Minister on Thursday said that the ministry has received number of emails from students and parents expressing their support for the conduct of the exam.

Meanwhile, students have flooded the social requesting for a postponement. They said that due to lack of adequate exam centres in some states will make it difficult to maintain physical distancing. Students have also said that some of them have to travel around 500 kilometres to reach the centre which will be difficult due to the lack of adequate means of commuting due to lockdowns in place.