Asserting that as Chancellor of Universities, he has the final authority over all university matters under the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday conveyed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that a decision regarding holding examinations of final year students “shall be taken in consonance with the provisions of the Act”.
The letter is yet another instance of the Governor being at odds with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Earlier instances had prompted a political back and forth between the MVA and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
Terming Mr. Thackeray’s decision cancelling examinations “unprecedented” and “without any profound thinking on the legal repercussions,” Mr. Koshyari said it would jeopardise the future of students.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, the Governor said he was surprised to learn through media reports that the CM had declared that no exams shall be conducted this year, while he was still awaiting a response to his letter on the matter.
“The arbitrary decision has violated the basic principle that to obtain an identical degree, there cannot be two sets of criteria, one who has given examination and for the other who has obtained marks on average. The examinations cannot be made optional,” he wrote.
The Governor said even though the committee of vice chancellors constituted by the Minister for Higher and Technical Education to explore options available to conduct the examinations had given its report to the Secretary, Higher and Technical Education Department, on May 6, it had not been presented to him till date.
The Governor said that during his videoconference with vice chancellors, all of them had communicated to him their preparedeness to conduct their respective university examinations.
Mr. Koshyari said he had clearly mentioned that the Chancellor’s office shall give further directions after accepting the recommendations of the committee, partially or fully, once he had received the report.
Mr. Thackeray last week said final year examinations will be cancelled as it is not possible to hold them amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Students are to be given average marks of the previous seven semesters, and those who want to improve their score will be given a choice to appear for exams in October.
The Governor said the Ministry of Home Affairs had given approval and issued guidelines to conduct examinations to various State boards, and that CBSE and ICSE are doing so. He said that if school boards can conduct examinations for children, then universities can do so too.
He said the University Grants Commission (UGC) and other Central authorities are of the view that final year examinations should not be dispensed with. The State government should abide by UGC guidelines along with the provisions of the Maharashtra Universities Act, 2017, he said.
