A group of students from Kerala have written to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, the State Human Rights Commission and the State Women's Commission, asking it to postpone the Kerala Public Service Commission's examination for the position of Assistant Professor in various universities, citing the upward COVID curve. The examination is scheduled to be held on November 2. The aspirants had previously filed a writ petition in the High Court, seeking the same. It was dismissed later.
"The situation in the state is not conducive to writing the exam safely in the face of a widespread increase in COVID cases. Public transportation is not completely safe. Moreover, public transport has not been fully launched in the state. For this reason, it has not been possible for the candidates to reach their examination centres," reads the petition. The aspirants say that the examination has centres only in three districts in the state. They also said that a lot of aspirants stuck in containment zones are tested positive for COVID.
"This is not an examination that happens every year. A lot of aspirants who are likely to miss it this year may not get a chance to write it later," says an aspirant. Kerala, on Wednesday, recorded 8790 new cases. The death toll stands at 1,403.
The Kerala PSC, at the same time, said that COVID positive students can write the exam, provided they reach the centre in an ambulance, with a health worker. The students, however, said that this isn't a practical option. "A COVID positive person may not be in the right situation to write a competitive examination. Asking them to write the examination in an ambulance is a violation of their rights," the students said in their petition.
