Andhra Pradesh: Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy asks government to take public opinion on exams

Amaravati: Former minister and TDP leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy on Thursday demanded the Jagan Mohan Reddy government to postpone or cancel the Class X and Intermediate examinations till the second wave of coronavirus pandemic subsided in the state in the next one month.

Chandramohan Reddy said that this was not a time for the government to behave egotistically since the exams would pose a serious threat to the lives of over 16 lakh SSC and Intermediate students. Besides, thousands of teachers and non-teaching staff and lakhs of parents would also be exposed to danger.

Addressing a press conference at party central office in Mangalagiri, the TDP leader told education minister Audimulapu Suresh that being an educated person, he should weigh the pros and cons of the serious situation prevailing in the state and all over the country. If possible, the minister should get a public opinion taken on the exams issue. No doubt, 95 per cent students would give their opinion in favour of cancellation of the exams. They were not ready to come to the examination centres at a time when the virus infections were spreading rapidly in an unsparing way.

The TDP senor leader said that till now, over 5 chief ministers and one former Prime Minister have been infected by the coronavirus. This showed how pathetic the epidemic situation has become. Even the Central Election Commission has made it mandatory for the counting agents and the contesting candidates to produce negative report before entering the counting halls. This was just for a day's counting. Can the AP government implement similar orders for the examinations which have to be held on multiple days? Can lakhs of students and teachers undergo RT PCR tests and vaccination at such short notice?, he said.

The TDP leader recalled how Telangana, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Delhi and other states have already cancelled the SSC examinations. Some other states have postponed the exams. The CBSE and ICSE have also cancelled the exams. Even the JEE and NEET have cancelled their entrance tests. The Nellore-based Vikrama Simhapuri University has cancelled the graduate and post graduate level examinations at its end, he pointed out.

Chandramohan Reddy criticised that the government was giving wrong reports on the fresh cases and deaths. Over 2,000 new Covid cases were reported on Wednesday in Nellore district but the officials have declared just 1,200 cases, he said. Even the number of deaths were being under reported. The situation was pathetic that panicked families were taking their infected members to Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad where they were spending lakhs of rupees. A journalist died for lack of an oxygen bed in Nellore the other day, he said.