MPSC aspirants protest against exam delay

Thousands of Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) aspirants took to the streets in protest against postponement of the exam for the fourth time. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader alleged that the government is favouring the rich Maratha community and denying justice to OBC, SC, ST communities.

Pune: Maharashtra witnessed the fury of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) aspirants as the preliminary examination was postponed for the fourth time. Thousands of students took to the streets to stage protest and block roads.

The exam was scheduled for March 14. Further postponement of the exam enraged the students who have been toiling day and night preparing for the exam in the hope of securing a government job.

At Navi Peth in Pune, students staged protests and blocked roads. Following the agitation in Pune, students in other main cities also took to the streets and blocked the traffic in Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Jalgaon and Washim.

Sloganeering against government

Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Council Gopichand Padalkar spearheaded the students protests in Pune. Students in Aurangabad told ETV Bharat that the government should roll back its decision as we cannot afford it now. The government should resign if it wants to take such decisions, they said.

A vociferous slogan shouting against the government was seen at the agitation spot. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar slammed the government. Chief Minister should show courage and conduct the exams. The decision is an injustice to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students. We protest against this, said Ambedkar.

Protests started in Aurangabad

As soon as the news of the postponement of the exams came, students gathered in Mahatma Phule Chouk and started agitation. In Sangli also, the students took to the streets against the decision of postponing the MPSC exams. In Jalgaon, as the government has cancelled the exams in the wake of the huge rise in the number of Covid-19 cases, the students gathered in Court square and blocked the traffic at 4 PM. They raised slogans against the government.

MPSC exams postponed for the fourth time

Last year, MPSC preliminary exams scheduled for April 26 and May 10 were postponed as the state was severely hit by Covid pandemic. The Maharashtra secondary service non gazetted, B- group exams were also cancelled. As lockdown continued, prelims exams were not conducted. As schools and colleges had been reopened under the unlock process, Maharashtra Public Service Commission decided to conduct state prelim exams scheduled on March 14.

The state is witnessing surge in Corona cases since last few days resulting in restrictions imposed by state government such as lockdown and travelling curbs. The state disaster management and rehabilitation department have suggested MPSC board that it is not fair to conduct exams in such a situation in a letter sent to it dated March 10. Then MPSC took the decision to postpone it. But, the students have extremely been disappointed by losing a chance to sit for the exam.

Political parties slam government

The political parties have severely slammed the government for this decision. As said earlier, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar has said that, due to the postponement of exams, OBC, SC, ST students are furious as they think that they are denied justice. CM Uddhav Thackeray should show courage and direct to conduct the exams. BJP national secretary Punkaja Munde in a tweet criticized the government saying, its decision is totally wrong. The future of lakhs of students has been pushed into uncertainty.

Congress state president Nana Patole has also asked the government to reconsider its decision as it would amount to injustice to students when the exam is postponed three days before. He added that the exam can be conducted following Covid protocol.

Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna leader Raju Shetty also demanded to immediately cancel the decision of postponing the exams. While saying the students are suffering from financial and mental distress due to repeatedly postponing the exams, he urged the government to consider the students' disappointment, Now, CM is expected to solve the problem and everybody is eagerly awaiting his decision.