Students across Maharashtra are waiting with bated breath as the Supreme Court will today hear the matter regarding a plea filed against the conducting of final examination for college students. The Maharashtra Students Union (MASU) has submitted an intervention providing a representation to highlight the plight of students of Maharashtra. In the intervention, MASU stated, "Considering that Maharashtra is worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is not feasible to hold the final year exams, as it would pose huge risks to health and lives of not only the students and staff but also the members of their families."
While the matter is in the court, students have taken to social media by staging online protests and posting messages in support of cancellation of exams. Ajit Pandey, a student said, "We have been waiting for a long time now. We are both hopeful and scared. We just want to be relieved of this mental trauma."
Yamini Mishra, another student said, "Our degrees should be conferred based on the average of our previous scores. While students are raising a uniform voice, state governments irrespective of their ruling political parties should consider the severity of the situation and put it forward to the SC."
On July 31, the SC had directed states to submit notifications of their respective state disaster management authorities by August 7. Siddharth Ingle, founder president of MASU, said, "State authorities are aware of the ground reality. The decision whether or not to hold the final year exams should be left to the respective state governments."
On Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) filed its response in the SC supporting the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines to conduct final year exams by September end.
