UGC asked universities to “compulsorily” hold final year exams by September (File Photo)

Shiv Sena’s youth arm Yuva Sena on Saturday filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) decision to conduct final year examinations, under the direction of Yuva Sena chief and Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray.

A statement by the organisation pointed to the rising COVID cases in India, which crossed ten lakh this week, and the fact that the country was the world’s third worst-hit by the pandemic.

“Even in this highly worrying time, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and University Grants Commission (UGC) have announced that final year examinations will be conducted in India by universities in the month of September 2020, keeping in mind the adoption of its guidelines, but ignoring the physical and mental health, anxiety and safety of students across the country,” the statement read.

Yuva Sena said the 31 guidelines announced by the UGC to conduct the exams will not be effective given the severity of the pandemic.

Bearing in mind COVID has assumed “monstrous proportions” in India, and in the interest of students, the body wrote letters to the UGC and the HRD Ministry on May 9 and July 7, 2020, respectively, requesting authorities to cancel the final year examinations. Instead, it suggested promoting students on the basis of an average of their marks.

The youth wing also said the UGC could face challenges like paper checking, dates to declare examination results and admissions to postgraduate courses and delays therein, and network connectivity issues in rural areas in case examinations are conducted online.

The group also pointed out that major educational institutions like the IITs, and the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Puducherry and others had already cancelled examinations.