Maharashtra government will release its plans for the conduct of final year or final semester exams in universities on Monday, August 31, according to Hindustan Times. A committee has been formed to look into all the aspects of conducting exams which will submit its report by Monday afternoon after which a formal decision will be taken.

Supreme Court on Friday said that states do not have the authority to cancel the university exams but can request for extension of deadline. The government said that it will respect the Court’s decision and will conduct the exam when feasible.

The report says state minister for higher and technical education Uday Samant called for a meeting with vice-chancellors (VCs) of all 13 state universities in the state on Saturday. A committee was formed for the purpose but it was also clarified that conducting the exam before the original deadline of UGC of September 30 is difficult.

Samant said, “We will ensure that the health issues of the students, teaching and non-teaching staff members are not compromised. Taking all aspects into account and the options given to conduct the exams by UGC, the committee will submit its report by Monday afternoon. We will announce the rough timeline, how they can be conducted, besides the options for the students with ATKT and those going to other countries,”

The minister also said that care will be taken that exams are conducted in the simplest way without asking students to come to the exam centre. Options for an open book exam, assignment based exam, online exams and offline exams will be explored. The VCs have conveyed to the minister that they would require 40 to 45 days to prepare for the exam.