UGC latest news: Students are still waiting for a decision on the Final Year University exams as the Supreme court has adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by 31 students challenging the University Grants Commission (UGC) to August 10. But now more students and professors have approached the court against the recent UGC guidelines that made it mandatory for Universities to conduct the final year exams using any– pen and paper, online or a combination of both by September despite the rising Covid 19 cases in the country.

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According to a report by Bar & Bench final-year engineering undergraduates at the Bangalore Institute of Technology have also submitted a plea in the Karnataka High Court challenging the UGC guidelines.

The report says that their plea says the UGC's decision is 'illegal, onerous, arbitrary" and as "striking at the root of Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.' The plea also says that 'decision to conduct examinations during the pandemic for final year/ terminal semester students as "perverse, arbitrary" and demonstrative of a "non-application of mind.' The petition also says that decision is detrimental to students, staff, and the public interest.

Similarly, a report by Pune Mirror says that Maharashtra Federation of University & College Teachers Organizations (MFUCTO) which is part of Savitribai Phule Pune University has also filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court against the UGC guidelines and its mandatory nature. The plea filed by MFUCTO supports an earlier petition filed by Shiv Sena's youth wing Yuva Sena.

In spite of the backlash, in the last Supreme Court hearing, the UGC had said that it has no intention to change its decision. In a 50 page affidavit in response to the Yuva Sena petition, the UGC said that decision was taken to ‘protect the academic future of students across the country which will be irreparably damaged if their final year/terminal semester examinations are not held, while also keeping in mind their health and safety.’ The academic body also  added that decision to cancel the exams taken by states such as Delhi and Maharashtra will be considered as contradicting the guideline.

Without any clarity yet on the matter, students are advised to continue preparing for the exams. Recently Anna University in Chennai decided to conduct final year exams using Online mode. The university has said that students who will not be able to appear for the online exams will be given the option to appear for an offline version at a later time.

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