Maharashtra 10th, 12th board exams: Students protest over offline exams; government defends decision

JALNA/MUMBAI: Students on Monday staged protests in Mumbai and Nagpur demanding that offline exams for classes X to XII be canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic, while the Maharashtra government strongly defended the decision, saying it has been taken after careful consideration.

Hundreds of students protested near the residence of Maharashtra school education minister Varsha Gaikwad in Mumbai seeking cancellation of offline exams for classes X to XII, leading to baton charge by police. In Nagpur, agitating students damaged two buses, police said.

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Defending the state government's decision to conduct offline exams of Classes X and XII, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the step has been taken after careful consideration. He said steps like maintaining social distancing, disinfecting schools, wearing masks and checking whether double dose has been administered, will be taken while conducting the exams. “The decision taken by the education minister to hold offline exams of 10th and 12th standard has been made after careful consideration,” Tope told reporters in Jalna. The health minister appealed to the protesting students to cooperate with the government in conducting in-person exams.

In Mumbai, the protest took place in Ashok Mill Naka in Dharavi and police had to resort to baton charge to stop them from moving towards the school education minister's residence, an official said. The students argued against holding the board exams for classes 10 and 12 in-person, saying they had studied online due to COVID-19 restrictions. The students, who had assembled from areas like Thane and Nashik besides the metropolis on the basis of information shared on social media, did not have permission for the protest, the police said.

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In Nagpur, around 100 students protested near a mall on Medical Square. Windshields of two buses were damaged by unidentified persons during the protest, police said. DCP (Zone 4) Gajanan Rajmane said the students gathered near the mall in the afternoon and protested. A delegation of the students later met District Collector Vimala R and submitted a memorandum listing their demand. "During the protest, windshield of a city bus was damaged by unidentified persons. Later, we also received a complaint about damage caused to the windshield of a school bus parked in the area," Rajmane said.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai police said they will take action against a YouTuber after it emerged that he had asked students to assemble near the residence of minister Gaikwad for the protest. An official said the YouTuber, identified as 'Hindustani Bhau' alias Vikas Phatak, will have to face the law as prima facie it appears he had prodded students to assemble at Ashok Mill Naka in Dharavi, where he was also present. The police official said Hindustani Bhau and some others were responsible for the gathering of the students. As per preliminary investigation, the YouTuber had asked the students to take part in the protest through his social media accounts. Responding to a query, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone V, Pranay Ashok said, “The action will be taken as per the law against anyone responsible for instigating students."