UG exams to continue as per schedule, says Himachal education minister

Despite Himachal Pradesh high court’s order to postpone undergraduate examinations in the state, education minister Govind Thakur on Monday said the exams will continue as per the schedule.

While addressing the media on Monday, Thakur said this matter is pending in the Supreme Court (SC) and it has not issued any stay order on these exams. The matter will be heard in the SC on Tuesday and further decision by the state will be taken after the apex court’s call on the issue, the minister said.

Preparations to conduct these exams had been done by the state government and Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), and students also appeared for the same on Monday at 9am, while we received the information about the high court’s order around 10am, Thakur said.

He added that the state government is taking legal suggestions and the advocate general will file the special leave petition soon.

Himachal Pradesh high court on Monday had ordered to postpone undergraduate examinations. A petition regarding this was filed by Yaseem Bhatt who stated that it was not right and safe to conduct exams amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In July, HPU had released the datesheet for the sixth-semester examinations of UG courses as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines. These exams are scheduled to take place between August 17 and September 8.

Three-hour examinations will be conducted in morning and evening sessions — 9am to 12am and 2pm to 5pm. As many as 134 examination centres have been established throughout the state and around 36,000 students are expected to appear in the exams.