MPSC 2023: Maharashtra deputy CM asks commission to rethink implementation of new syllabus

PUNE: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the state government has asked the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) to reconsider its decision to change the syllabus for its exams from this year. If the commission -- which holds competitive exams for government jobs -- did not reconsider, the government might move a court, he said.

MPSC students are agitating against the commission's decision to introduce new syllabus from 2023. They want it deferred till 2025, stating that students are not prepared enough to tackle the new syllabus. "MPSC is an autonomous body, and the state government can not give a direction to it," Fadnavis said.

But the commission did respond to the state government's earlier letter, and informed that after a discussion, its members were of the view that the syllabus be implemented from this year, he said. Notably, Fadnavis himself had earlier backed the MPSC's decision, saying that sooner or later the new syllabus would have to be introduced and there was not point in deferring it.

On Tuesday, he said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spoke to the MPSC stating that the decision can not be accepted and apprise it of the disappointment among students. "We told them that no one is opposed to the new syllabus but the demand is that it should be implemented from 2025. The CM has sent them another letter asking them to reconsider their decision. I am sure they will reconsider, but if they do not, the state government will have to think about options like moving a court because we have to stand by the students," Fadnavis said.

"We can not disappoint students as they are our future," he added. The MPSC has decided to adopt the descriptive question paper pattern instead of the existing objective one from this year, which students are opposing.