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Students protest cancellation of MPSC prelims; cops resort to mild lathicharge at Navi peth
PUNE The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), on Thursday, cancelled its preliminary exam scheduled for March 14, citing the Covid pandemic
PUNE The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), on Thursday, cancelled its preliminary exam scheduled for March 14, citing the Covid pandemic.
The decision irked hundreds of students in the city, who gathered and protested at Navi peth.
The Relief and Rehabilitation Department announced the decision in a circular issued on Thursday. Earlier, the examination was to take place in April last year, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
A large number of students gathered at Navi peth and shouted slogans against the MPSC and he state government.
The police had to resort to a mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd, who were at the spot since 1pm.
As student numbers increased by the evening, extra police bandobast was called in from across Pune, to prevent any untoward incident.
CM tells MPSC officials to announce new exam date on Friday
The state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced through FB ‘live’ that he has instructed MPSC officials to announce the new dates of the exams on Friday. “I am aware of the protests happening in the state , but due to the increasing number of Covid positive patients and to make proper arrangements for the examinations, this date has been postponed. The revised dates of the preliminary examinations will be announced by Friday and it will be conducted within a week. Also the age-limit criteria which students are concerned about will also be resolved. I have instructed officials accordingly,” said Thackeray.
The cancellation of the exams prompted BJP leaders to target the government, while the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders also voiced their dismay at the examinations being cancelled.
Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, asked the government to reverse its decision and hold the exams as scheduled.
“The exams have been pushed forward already and it would result in a loss of opportunity for many students who invest their best years in preparation,” Fadnavis tweeted.
Congress state president Nana Patole said he had already spoken to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and a fresh decision is likely soon. Patole said the CM had assured him that the decision will be positive for the students.
Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan questioned the rationale behind the move. “If the government can permit weddings, hold its budget session and conduct exams for the health department, then it is wrong to cancel the MPSC examinations,” said Chavan.
In Pune, BJP Member of he Legislative Council, Gopichand Padalkar, along with other leaders, held a rasta roko, resulting in a massive traffic jam, amidst heavy police bandobast.
“After the state assembly session ended, suddenly the decision was taken to postpone the MPSC preliminary exams. This is an injustice, with lakhs of students who already suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have started this protest and till this decision is not taken back, we will not move from here,” Padalkar said.
“This is a very unfortunate decision that the government has asked MPSC to take. Hundreds of thousands of students have been preparing for this exam. The government cannot play with the lives of students,” said BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar.
This is the fifth time the MPSC has deferred the exam. Earlier, the Uddhav Thackeray government deferred the written examination of two days before it was scheduled, on October 11, under pressure from Maratha outfits, who demanded the exam be cancelled in view of a stay order from the Supreme Court on reservations.
Meanwhile, there are two groups of protestor at Navi peth. On one side of the road is the protest being led by BJP leaders, and on the other side of the road, students are protesting.
“We don’t want political parties to benefit from this protest. This is our anger and frustration towards the government. We just want exams to happen on the scheduled date and not be postponed anymore,” said Santosh Naik, a protesting student.
Pune has one lakh students, from various parts of Maharashtra, preparing for the competitive exams. The frequent deferment of the exam schedule has threatened many, who fear becoming ineligible due to age restrictions.
As the exam was scheduled for March 14, students from across the state with Pune as their examination centre, started coming in to the city.
Shilpa Kamthe a student from Latur, said, “My parents were not ready to send me to Pune for the exams, but I convinced them. On Monday, I came here and was preparing for the exams and suddenly we got to know that the exams are postponed. This is not right. The state government should understand the issues and difficulties students face, especially from rural areas.”
Another student, Rajesh Gondhale from Satara, said, “For the last one year we are waiting to appear for this exam. Initially, due to lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic it got postponed. I am at the age limit to appear for the exam. If it gets postponed again, I doubt I will be eligible.”
