Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation Vijay Wadettiwar on Tuesday said the state government will make all efforts to protect the interest of the students who are worried over appearing for JEE-NEET exams, especially from the flood-hit East Vidarbha. ‘’No student will be harmed,’’ said Wadettiwar.
He reacted after the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that the JEE-NEET examination cannot be postponed in the flood-hit areas of East Vidarbha. "In areas where there is no flood and still the students cannot reach the examination centres, they should make representation through the District Collector, the NTA will decide on it. The Nagpur bench has said that it would not allow any student to be harmed but would not postpone the examination,’’ he said.
Wadettiwar, who has been travelling extensively in the flood-hit Chandrapur district, reiterated that students will not be harmed. His statement is crucial when the flood situation in the Vidarbha has completely disrupted the transport system.
In a related development, the Minister of Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant said he contacted the union minister of state for Human Resources Development Sanjay Dhotre and pleaded that the students should not be the loser because of the flood situation. Samat said Dhotre, who was elected from the Akola Lok Sabha seat, assured that no student in the area would suffer any academic loss.
The intervention of Wadettiwar and Samant was important as the JEE-NEET examination centres are located in Nagpur, Chandrapur, Wardha, Amravati and Akola.
The exams will be held from 9 am to 12 pm and from 3 pm to 6 pm. More than 15,000 students from Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli will participate in the JEE-NEET.
The rains have cut off communication to some villages and submerged bridges. In such a situation, it is difficult to reach the examination centre from the villages.
Although the floodwaters of Wainganga river in Chandrapur district have started receding to some extent now, the danger of floods remains. However, the administration will have to carry out an important task of evacuating 1400 people trapped in the floods.
Hundreds of villages along the Wainganga river in Brahmapuri taluka of Chandrapur district have been flooded. Fifteen of these villages where rescued people have been camped. Food packets and water were delivered to all these villages by air force helicopters. The area has been flooded for the past three days.
The intensity of floods in Gadchiroli district is high.
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