JEE, also known as Joint Entrance Exam, is an engineering entrance examination conducted nationwide for admission to various engineering colleges in India. It contains two exams: JEE Main and JEE Advanced. It is based on objective questions and is regarded amongst most challenging examinations. This examination earlier consisted only two languages: Hindi and English.

But in 2016 it was reinforced to have Gujarati, Marathi and Urdu as a part of the languages in which exam will be conducted. Further in 2016 it was found that Marathi and Urdu languages were dropped while still continuing Gujarati as one of the languages. In the year 2019, the responsibility of conducting the JEE exam was taken by the National Testing Agency (NTA) from CBSE.

Mamta Banerjee, Chief Minister of Bengal, had hence raised an objection, holding the Modi Government responsible for “maligning” Gujarati as one of the languages and ignoring all other languages, including Bengali in which the exam could have been held. Mamta Banerjee has also put in protests against this issue until it was decided “gracefully”.

NTA JEE 2020

In one of her tweets, it was seen that the chief minister of West Bengal raise aspersions that the central government has undertaken this action with intentions to “malign” various other regions as well as the regional languages of India. She was further quoted as saying that “Joint Entrance Examination so long was only conducted in English and Hindi languages. Surprisingly, now only Gujarati language has been added. Such a step is not at all praiseworthy.”

Mamta Banerjee said she had loved the Gujarati language as much as any other language but why other languages are being made a victim of this ignorance. “Why injustice is being meted out to them? If Gujarati has to be there, then all other regional languages, including Bengali, must be there,” she said.

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Mamta Banerjee argued that it would hurt the sentiments of people who spoke other regional languages and hence requested a fair treatment to all.

“Unless this issue is handled gracefully, there will be strong protests all around as sentiments of people who speak other languages would be deeply hurt due to this injustice.”

In another tweet, she also stated, “Our country is India, which is home to so many religions, cultures, languages, creed and communities. However, maligning all regions and regional languages are the intention of the Government at the Centre.”

The notification of JEE 2020 states that the candidates will have the option for choosing their preferred language for the question paper when they will be filling their online application forms for the JEE 2020.

As per the notification, the question paper would be available only in English and Hindi for all, “centre cities”. But for the “centre cities” which fall in the state of Gujarat, and Union Territories of Daman and Diu as well as Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the question paper would be available in English, Hindi and Gujarati.

Incidentally, it was found that Mamta Banerjee’s nephew and party MP Abhishekh Banerjee termed this decision to make available the question paper for JEE 2020 in English, Hindi, and Gujarati as “unconstitutional.”