Unrelenting protests by civil services aspirants have forced the Eknath Shinde-led state government to delay the implementation of the new examination pattern for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) to 2025.
The MPSC had earlier decided to conduct the main examination with a UPSC-like descriptive pattern from 2023.
#MPSC राज्य सेवा मुख्य परीक्षा वस्तुनिष्ठ पर्यायांऐवजी वर्णनात्मक पद्धतीने घेण्याच्या निर्णयामुळे या परीक्षेची तयारी करणाऱ्या विद्यार्थ्यांवर अन्याय होण्याची शक्यता. हा निर्णय २०२५ च्या मुख्य परीक्षेपर्यंत पुढे ढकलावा – मुख्यमंत्री @mieknathshinde यांची @mpsc_office कडे विनंती
— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) January 31, 2023
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MPSC aspirants, supported by the Indian Youth Congress, have held protests in Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik, and Nagpur over the last few months.
On Tuesday, a group of students started a protest over the issue at Alaka Talkies in Pune. The protesters were visited by BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar who called Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and informed him about the aspirants’ demands.
Earlier this month, Fadnavis who was in Pune during the student protest, had seemed reluctant to the demand of postponing the implementation of the new exam pattern.
On Tuesday, speaking to the protesters over the phone, he promised to take a positive decision in the cabinet meeting.
Later in the day, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said after the cabinet meeting that he has communicated to the MPSC that implementing the new pattern from the current year will be unjust to students who are currently preparing for the exams. “I have made a strong appeal to MPSC to delay the implementation till 2025,” Shinde tweeted.