Mumbai: Students protest outside Education Minster Varsha Gaikwad's residence against offline exams

Rattling the authorities in pandemic times thousands of students trooped out in flash agitations in Mumbai Thane Beed Aurangabad Nashik Nagpur Osmanabad and other district to protest against the proposed offline board examinations on MondayIn Mumbai the police resorted to a mild caning but without any injuries when a large number of the agitating students attempted to march near the Dharavi home of School Education Minister Varsha GaikwadWATCH Maharashtra Students protested outside State School Education Minster Prof Varsha Eknath Gaikwads house against offline examsStudents demand is online exams for classes 10th amp 12th in view of COVID19 crisis We tried convincing amp dispersing themDCP Pranay Ashok pictwittercomieqAmhq0rsmdash ANI ANI January 31 2022Catching the police and education authorities virtually unawares big and small groups of youngsters suddenly gathered at predetermined locations raised slogans against the government and demanded that the offline examinations for Class X and Class XII be cancelledLater officials said that the students were allegedly called for the multicity agitation by one Vikas Phatak going by an alias of Hindustani Bhau who had posted social media posts for the protestsThe Mumbai Police have decided to conduct a probe into the incident which resulted in violation of Covid19 protocols especially physical distancing and other restrictions with the huge crowds descending unexpectedly according to Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranay AshokSpeaking to local mediapersons Phatak alleged that the government is not concerned about the health of the students and are forcing them to appear for the physical examsFor two years there have been online classes only but now they are insisting on offline examinationsa This is not justified claimed PathakMinister Prof Gaikwad appealed to the student community not to resort to such agitations and said she is ready for discussions with any of the leaders to arrive at an amicable solution after discussing with the department officialsMeanwhile the agitation was strongly condemned by state Congress President Nana Patole Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe Minister of State for School Education Omprakash Babasaheb alias Bachchu Kadu and other leadersWhich political party is instigating such agitations in the pandemic times Even during the pandemic last year they had provoked youngsters to take to the streets like this in huge numbers and many of them were later infected by Coronavirus said PatoleLondhe targetted the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly inciting the student community as it had done during the open temple agitations last year without being concerned about the health and safety of the studentsKadu sought to know how such protests could be carried out without giving notice or seeking permission from the concerned authorities and urged students to remain patientThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever