Khagendra Kumar

Chief Editor

Thousands of students wanted JEE and NEET to be extended further to a date when the corona pandemic becomes manageable in terms of  high probability of infection. The director of IIT Delhi said in a NDTV programme today that life must go on and JEE mains must take place on the announced date as all safety preparations are done at the centres and around 100 meters the centres. The dirctor of a prestigious IIT appears to be very myopic in vision and have a very little knowledge of the existing pandemic situation in India. He opined that it is important to conduct examination now because the prestigious institution like IITs must get students in time. I think  the director, IIT Delhi in his opinion reflects the reasons for the attitude of IIT graduates who now a days prefer to manage private companies or join civil services or similar kinds of jobs, rather being an engineer and researcher capable of contributing to the technology/technical knowhow needed for the development of rural and urban India taking their contexts into consideration. Minds of most of the IITians operate in social vacuum where personal utilitarian gains dominate their thinking of life. They fail to understand that it is the society where science and technology will find its usefulness. 

When all the public schools, colleges and universities are closed; regular functioning of the parliament, judiciary and various other institutions are restricted, why the NEET and JEE aspirants should write their examinations in a shabby situation where there is fair chance to be infected. If lakhs of our public schools and institutions of higher learning are closed and students are unable to take their examinations in July and August and waiting for the right time, it may be December or January, then heaven will not fall upon. If one has to choose between health and  education, health will be  obvious choice. The director of the IIT Delhi also argued that in spite of lockdown, I and many of our staffs regularly attended office. I would like to ask a question to the honourable director, What significant contribution did you make to the IIT or academic world or Indian society at large during the lockdown period. Nothing, it is a kind of complex in the person/s heading so called prestigious institutions of India that we are class apart and behave in a way that can only be called the behaviour of responsible citizens. As far as staffs are considered, they must have visited the office due to his dictat.  We are waiting for a situation when all our public schools and public institutions of higher learning that are considered poor  will start functioning. We must make adequate preparations and strategies for restarting these institutions. Their closure  for longer period may lead to unberable stress on our society, economy , polity and the government as well or we can say the sky will certainly fall upon. if they remain closed for a very long period. If all IITs and IIMs of India are closed for ever ever, nothing will happen to our society. In fact, our IITs are burden on our economy. These institutions operate in an aurocratic way and are disconnected with our indigenous developmental goals. 

The director of IIT is so myopic in his vision that he cannot understand the perils of our students who will have to travel miles to reach the towns/cities where examination/test centres are located. The director of  IIT Delhi thinks that the India is Delhi. His frame of mind about Delhi is equally applicable to rest of Indian states. The similar vision is reflected in the vision of majority of IITians . Suppose there are only two NEET centres in Bihar- Gaya and Patna. How students from Bettiah or Supaul will reach patna or Gaya when none of the public transports (private and public buses) including railways  are running. A examinee will have to spend at least 12-20 thousand for hiring a taxi. And once in Patna/Gaya, where will they stay during this pandemic? An examinee will have to spend another 5-10 thousand for hiring  a bed/room in a properly sanitized hotel and local transporation. At the same time most of the centres in India will be crowded and the  students will not be provided safe environment.

The government must consider to delay these  examinations by another 3-4 months. The daily trend of infection is still going up rapidly. Nearly 70,000 people are infected daily. When situation comes under control and public transports including railways are allowed to operate; restaurants and hotels start normal functioning, public schools, institutions of higher learning, courts, parliaments and state legislatures resume normal functions only then these  examinations should be held. If the Home Ministe of India, Chief Ministers of some states, Ministers , judges, bureaucrats, doctors and health workers are open to infection then why risk the lives of our children. Their lives are more valuable than life of an IIt director. The Government decision must take into consideration the peril of our common students and postpone examinations to be held in Septem 2020.

(picture courtsey : www. cartoonistsatish.com)