Seeking a postponement of JEE, NEET and other exams citing a spike in COVID cases, NSUI activists are kickstarting an indefinite hunger strike. Around 10 activists, including the Congress students' wing's National President Neeraj Kundan are protesting in front of the NSUI office in Delhi. Along with the postponement of exams, they are also seeking a fee waiver in universities, considering the pandemic.
"The government isn't listening to the students' demand. It is unfair for them to conduct examinations during this time. Along with the pandemic and the lockdown, floods have also devastated many places in the country," says Neeraj. At the same time, the All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi has called for a meeting of all the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states, to seek a postponement of the issue.
"The students are quite happy we are raising a voice against these unfair exams. These exams have to be postponed," says Lokesh Chugh, national media in-charge, NSUI. When asked if it is a good idea to step out of their homes and conduct a public protest, given that the COVID protocols are in place, Chugh said, "If the government thinks that the students can come out of their homes and write the exams, we can go out and protest against it too." He added that all the protestors are wearing masks and are maintaining social distancing while protesting.
Neeraj, at the same time, said that postponement wouldn't mean that the students would lose an academic year. "The first in the country to promote students without exams were the IITs. Never would these institutions have thought that they would have to resort to such a measure. But these are desperate times and they call for desperate measures," he says.
