MPSC Aspirants Protest in Pune, Demand Postponement of Exams
Protests erupted in Pune among MPSC aspirants after the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) announced that the preliminary examination for 2024 would be held on August 25, the same day as the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) exam.
The demonstration began on the evening of August 20 outside Ahilya Library in Navi Peth.The protesters are calling for the inclusion of 258 positions from the Agriculture Department in the MPSC exam and are demanding that the examination be postponed to avoid a scheduling conflict with the IBPS exam.
Despite repeated requests over the past three months, the MPSC has not addressed their concerns.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule visited the protesting aspirants on Wednesday and voiced her support for their demands. She assured them she would raise the issue with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, advocating for a postponement of the exam and better transparency.
Sule emphasized the impact on students’ futures and criticized the burden of paying multiple examination fees.
Aspirants like Nitin Andhale, 28, expressed frustration over the overlap of exam dates, noting that missing either exam could result in a lost opportunity for the year. They argue that the 258 agriculture positions, which were advertised earlier, should be included in the upcoming exam.In response to the protests, the MPSC stated in a notification dated August 20 that it had received the government’s demand letter for the agriculture posts on August 16. Since these positions were not included in the initial advertisement from December 2023, they will not be part of this examination but will be incorporated into future exams.
