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Maharashtra government must ensure exam centres have back-up power: Bombay high court

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The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday directed the state government to not shift Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam centres to areas less prone to load shedding and instead provide an alternate source of power so that children aren't inconvenienced.

A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Girish Kulkarni said, "SSC/HSC exams are a question of life and death for students. They prepare for a year and if preliminary facilities are not available, it will affect the performance of students. Moreover, when exams are held in February/March and September/ October, the temperatures in the state are very high and it is the obligation of the state to provide uninterrupted electricity to the centres."

The bench directed the education department to provide a list of centres to the concerned department of the state government two months before the exams, and list whether the centres have alternate sourced of power through generators/inverters. If any centre does not have power or alternate source, then the state is obliged to provide it.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions highlighting the non-implementation of a 2009 HC order directing the state to provide uninterrupted power supply to exam centres. One of the petitions, filed by Navi Mumbai social worker Vishnu Gawli, alleged that many students have to appear for the exams in darkness.

Test of darkness
In 2013, out of a total of 6,316 SSC/HSC exam centres, 577 were affected by load shedding.

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