Pune: MPSC on Thursday postponed the Maharashtra Gazetted Civil Services Combined Preliminary Examination, scheduled for Aug 25, amid protests by aspirants seeking a date change and inclusion of 258 agriculture services posts in the exam. The aspirants called off the agitation after police told them to leave the protest site on Shastri Road, where they had been staging a sit-in since Tuesday. On Thursday, the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) posted on its ‘X' handle, "In the commission meeting held today, it has been decided to postpone the Maharashtra Gazetted Civil Services Combined Preliminary Examination 2024 scheduled on 25th August 2024.
The exam date will be announced soon." The MPSC aspirants were primarily upset as the dates of their preliminary examination and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) clerical staff exam coincided. They were also unhappy with the non-inclusion of agriculture posts in the MPSC preliminary examination and the delay in the announcement of the exam schedule for non-gazetted posts at various govt departments.
On Thursday evening, the Vishrambaug police detained and later released nine protesters who had gathered on Lal Bahadur Shastri Road in Navi Peth to demonstrate against what they called the govt's continued neglect of civil services aspirants. Among the detained was a protester who had previously saved the life of a 19-year-old woman last year near Perugate police chowky after she was attacked by her estranged boyfriend with a billhook. Additional commissioner of police Pravin Patil told TOI, "The aspirants had been protesting for two days.
On Thursday, state govt issued fresh notifications agreeing to their demands. Despite this, some protesters resumed their demonstrations. We attempted a dialogue, but they refused to disperse.
This led to their detention." Senior inspector Vijaymala Pawar of the Vishrambaug police said, "We served them notices to uphold law and order. They were released in the evening.
" On Tuesday, Karjat Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar joined the protesting MPSC aspirants on Shastri Road and stayed with them till Thursday evening. NCP leader Sharad Pawar had late Wednesday tweeted that if the govt did not meet the students' demands by Thursday, he would join the protest in Pune "to secure justice for them". The MPSC civil services exam and candidates vying for Group A, B, and junior cadre positions in the Maharashtra Agriculture Services have been protesting since Tuesday for various reasons.
One major demand of the protesting candidates was the postponement of the MPSC preliminary exam, as it clashed with the IBPS clerk prelims date, a demand MPSC agreed to. However, MPSC is yet to meet their demand for the inclusion of 258 agriculture service posts. On Wednesday, the commission stated that a separate exam for these posts would be held in late October, with an advertisement to follow within two-three days.
Mahesh Gharbude, an MPSC aspirant, said, "Since MPSC will release the new date of examination later, we hope that they will relent and include the 258 agriculture posts. If it doesn't, we will again hit the protest path." Some of the protesting aspirants were of the view that support from some leading representatives of opposition parties put pressure on the state govt in the run-up to the assembly elections.
"NCP's Rohit Pawar and Ravindra Dhangekar of Congress visited us on Tuesday, NCP(SCP) chief Sharad Pawar was expected to be with us on Thursday evening or Friday if the govt did not act," a protester said. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who was in Kolhapur to attend an event organised for CM Eknath Shinde to interact with women beneficiaries of Mukhyamantri Mazhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, said, "Attempts are being made these days to defame govt. Members of opposition parties were fuelling anger among MPSC students in Pune.
MPSC is an independent body, but govt was targeted." (With inputs from Abhijeet Patil in Kolhapur).
