New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS): BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to direct the Education Ministry to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) till Diwali, and warned of suicides by youths otherwise.

In his "urgent letter" to Modi, Swamy said: "Holding the exams, in my opinion, may lead to a large number of suicides by youths around the country."

He cited an example of Mumbai where, he claimed, "there is no public transport and people have to come from other areas, often 20 to 30 km away". This is because of the restrictions enforced at many places due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he argued.

"There is widespread desperation among the youth since this exam is a make-or-break affair for them and they have to take it when they are fully prepared," the Rajya Sabha MP wrote to the Prime Minister.

Earlier, Swamy spoke to Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal. Pointing this out to Modi, Swamy added that Pokhriyal was "sympathetic" to his suggestion to put it off beyond Diwali. However, it needs the Prime Minister's "concurrence", he wrote.

Earlier, Swamy tweeted on the Supreme Court order on the matter, saying that the apex court had "left the date (for the exam) to the government" to decide.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had rejected a plea for the postponement of the two entrance tests due to the coronavirus outbreak. The court said that life has to go on despite the virus outbreak and that it could not put the careers of students in jeopardy by interfering in National Testing Agency's decision to hold these in September.