MPSC protest continues, student spend the night out in open in Pune

A section of the protesters stayed at the protest site at Jhansi Rani Square near Balgandharva Auditorium on Jangli Maharaj Road overnight although, they alleged, the police tried to make their stay inconvenient by turning off street lights Monday night.

Civil service aspirants ontinued their sit-in protest in Pune. (File)

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Civil service aspirants who have been demanding a delay in the implementation of the new pattern of the examination held by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) continued their sit-in protest in Pune Monday.

A section of the protesters stayed at the protest site at Jhansi Rani Square near Balgandharva Auditorium on Jangli Maharaj Road overnight although, they alleged, the police tried to make their stay inconvenient by turning off street lights Monday night.

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The protest, supported by the Congress party, is being backed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with its leader Jayant Patil visiting the protest site on Monday. Congress’s Nana Patole had also visited the site earlier in the day.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was in Pune on Monday to campaign for the Kasba Assembly bypolls, said during a press conference the government has conveyed its view on the MPSC exam pattern issue to the Commission. “I have given a letter to MPSC asking it to delay the implementation of the new exam pattern. We agree with the demand raised by students,” CM Shinde told reporters Monday night.

However, protesters do not seem satisfied with this response.

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A protester said, “Just stating that the government has requested the Commission to concede to our demand is not enough. MPSC must be asked to bring out the notification to that effect.”

Following a protest on January 31, 2022, Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a sympathetic view of the protesters’ demand. In a Cabinet meeting that day, it was decided to convey to MPSC that it should implement the change in the exam pattern in two years.

There’s a section of MPSC aspirants who are not in favour of delaying the new examination pattern.

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