Union Minister V Muraleedharan seeks postponement of Kerala entrance examinations

Union Minister V Muraleedharan on Wednesday urged the Kerala government to postpone the state entrance examinations for professional courses, including engineering and medicine, slated for Thursday, saying it was 'unsafe' to conduct them when the Covid-19 situation has been getting 'worse'.

The Centre has already decided to postpone the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance (NEET) examination to September 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

"I would like to urge the state government of Kerala to reconsider its decision to conduct the Kerala Engineering Architecture Medical (KEAM) 2020 examination now as the Covid situation in the state is getting worse day by day", the minister of State for External Affairs said in a letter to the Chief Minister.

It was "totally unsafe" and 'risky' to conduct the examinations now as it poses "significant threat" to the health of the students, he said adding the government's decision to go ahead with the examinations had caused anxiety among the parents.

Vijayan had said on Monday that the entrance examinations for engineering, architecture and medical admissions would be held as scheduled on July 16.

Special test centres would be opened in hotspots and containment zones so that students in those areas can take the exam without going out. Arrangements would also be made for students in quarantine or those coming from red zones.

Over one lakh candidates have applied for the entrance examination to be conducted in 342 centres located in Kerala, New Delhi, Mumbai and Dubai.