UG & PG Final Semester Exams: Odisha To Abide By Supreme Court Ruling, Says Minister

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Monday said that it will abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court on the conduct of undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) final semester examinations amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Briefing the media, Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said that the apex court, which had asked all the states to state their decision on this matter in writing within three days, will give a verdict on it soon.

“We have apprised the apex court of alternative valuation of UG and PG examinations and we will abide by the ruling of the court on this matter,” he added.

Notably, the state government in a notification on June 11 had announced cancellation of UG and PG final semester examinations in view of the COVID-19 situation.

Along with Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan had also cancelled the examinations on similar grounds.

Students and a few state governments have lodged their protest against the notification by the University Grants Commission (UGC), mandating the universities to conduct final-year examinations by September end.

The UGC, however, has asserted that as its guidelines are mandatory in nature, the degrees cannot be granted without conducting the examinations.

As the universities across the country are bound to follow its guidelines, the state governments cannot cancel the final-year examinations, the UGC contended.