Over rising unrest, final year students have demanded Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari to end the political drift and issue firm guidelines regarding their final year exams at the earliest. The Maharashtra Students Union (MASU) wrote a letter to the CM on June 3 demanding immediate issuance of a government order upholding the decision of May 31, 2020, to cancel all final year exams and give an aggregate score of the previous semesters.
It has been over two and a half months since the lockdown has been enforced and still there has been no government order or directive released by the state government regarding the final year examination. Rupsa Chandwani, a final year student of Bachelor of Science (BSc) course, said, "We are mentally drained. Every day, we anxiously wait for a firm decision regarding our examination. On the contrary, we wake up to a new turn of decisions, which adds to our stress. It has been more than two and a half months, but we still do not have any clarity."
In the letter, MASU has demanded the CM to issue a government order stating average marks of the previous semesters should be given to all the final year students. Siddharth Ingle, founder president of MASU, said, "We have requested the CM to hold on to his decision announced on May 31 of cancelling the final year examinations on account of the COVID-19 pandemic in Maharashtra. The state should issue an official order to grant aggregate scores of the previous semesters on an immediate basis."
Further on, students claim their academic lives are at loss amidst the political tussle between the Governor and the CM. Ingle added, "Students are suffering at the hands of political drifts between the Governor and the state government. This is not a time to play politics, as students are under mental stress every day." Vikrant Pandey, a student leader, said, "Some of us are having mental breakdowns every day and are slipping into depression worrying about our exams. We are well aware that the Governor belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while the CM is from Shiv Sena, but this is not the time for dirty politics."
In addition, students have demanded a final decision regarding ATKT students and backlog exams. Along with MASU, the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) Students' Union has also demanded the CM to issue an order regarding exams of over 8 to 10 lakh final year students on priority basis. SPPU stated on Twitter, "Exams are important, but the health of students is more important. The decision to cancel exams was taken by the CM because of the risks involved due to the coronavirus. The Maharashtra Governor should not play with our lives."
