Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to poll-bound Belagavi district in Karnataka on February 27, the Department of Pre-University Education (DPU) has postponed the annual examinations for first-year PU students of commerce, science, and arts.
Accounts in the commerce stream, mathematics in the science stream, and education in the arts stream, scheduled on Monday, will now take place on March 6.
The Deputy Director of Pre University (DDPU) MM Kambale released a letter concerning all principals in the district on Saturday that states, “In the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Belagavi City on Monday, the PUC-I students appearing for annual examinations might face many hurdles to reach the colleges. So, the examinations scheduled on 27 February 2023 have been postponed.”
“This order is applicable to all the government, aided, and private colleges of the district. The colleges have to convey the same to all the students,” the letter added.
In an interview with South First, DDPU Kambale said there was no pressure from the state government to postpone the exams due to the PM’s visit, and added that due to the non-availability of buses, students from far-flung rural areas might end up missing the exams.
“We did not postpone the annual examinations for first-year PU students only because of the prime minister’s visit. The majority of the PU students in the district come to their examination venues from rural areas via state-run buses. This decision has been taken for the well-being of the students. The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) has cancelled around 350 bus services to the rural areas on Monday,” Kambale was quoted by South First.
The NWKRTC is one of the state transport corporations that runs several buses in and around rural areas of Karnataka.
The Belagavi division of the NWKRTC released a statement recently stating, “The NWKRTC is providing around 350 bus services to the prime minister’s event on a contract basis on Monday. The bus operations from Belagavi, Bailhongal, Ramdurga, and Khanapur have been temporarily suspended on February 27.”
“Every day a greater number of buses are being operated in those routes where bus services have been suspended on Monday. We will ensure that a minimum number of buses are operated on all these routes without affecting the passengers. The passengers should commute with the available buses on these routes,” said the statement.
The report alos quoted NWKRTC Managing Director Bharat S saying the decision to cancel buses was taken as per a request submitted by the district administration. On being told the decision resulted in the postponement of PU exams, the official said, “I have no idea about the DPU postponing the annual examinations because of the suspension of bus services. I will look into the matter.”
