Pune: Hundreds of students staged protest in Pune’s Navi Peth area on Thursday against the Maharashtra government for postponing MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission) examinations.

Organising themselves into groups, the students tried to block the Lalbahadur Shastri Road on Thursday. The students appearing for the examinations have been affected as their exams are still incomplete. Hitting out at the government for its failure to conduct foolproof MPSC exams, one of the students on the condition of anonymity said, “I have come Pune for preparations and to appear for MPSC examinations. From past months, government is postponing the exams in the name of COVID-19. We pay house rent and other bills when are here. It is difficult to survive now.”

As soon as students tried to block the road leading towards Deccan area of the city, police rushed to the spot.

Maharashtra government has postponed the State Service Pre-Examination to be held on March 14, this year. The decision was taken against the backdrop of rise in the spread of infection. This is for the fourth time the government has postponed the MPSC exam since the COVID outbreak.

Earlier, the pre-service state service examination on October 11, last year was also postponed due to the stance taken by Maratha organisations on the Maratha reservation issue. The MPSC preliminary examinations, to fill up 200 posts in different departments, was supposed to be conducted on April 5. It was first postponed to September 13 due to the lockdown. However, since the NEET was scheduled for September 13, clashing with MPSC, the exams later were rescheduled again to September 20. In a fresh, the exam was scheduled on March 14.