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The protest by Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) aspirants in Pune received support from political leaders and Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Monday, with NCP (SP) leaders Rohit Pawar and Jitendra Awhad urging the state government to address the students' demands and ensure the process is not halted.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said the focus at present should remain on the MPSC issue and urged the government to continue the process until it reaches its full scope. Right now, the focus is solely on the MPSC; I urge the government not to halt this process until it reaches its full scope. Stopping now would prove very costly for you, Pawar said. Another NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad also called on the government to take their demands seriously. The government should be serious and not take it lightly. The demands of the students have to be considered positively. If the paper has been leaked, then it is an injustice to the students, Awhad said. He further urged the government not to undermine the aspirations of students. There is a dream in their eyes. Please don't kill the dream. That is what I would like to tell the government. The government has to divert it, so they will say it is political. People from all fields are coming, so why are they coming? They are the future of the nation, he said. On the demand for accountability in case of an alleged paper leak, Awhad said the MPSC chairman would have to take responsibility if the incident occurred during his tenure. Absolutely, if the paper leak happened during his (MPSC Chairman) tenure, he has to take responsibility for it, Awhad said. Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil also met the MPSC aspirants staging the protest and appealed to the government to take steps to restore the students' trust. The government that we elected should make efforts to win the trust of these students. Why is it that they have to resort to protests? Jarange Patil said. He questioned the circumstances that had led students to take to the streets after spending years preparing for examinations. If students have to study for 10 years and then take to the streets to protest, what does that say? What has been the point of all those years of education? he said. Jarange Patil appealed to the protesting aspirants to remain united and continue their agitation while urging the government to fulfil their demands at the earliest. My appeal is that everyone should remain united and continue the agitation. My request to the government is that the demands of these students should be fulfilled at the earliest. These are your children too, he said. Earlier, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday urged the Maharashtra government to engage in dialogue with protesting students and find a solution to their grievances. Pawar said there was growing unrest among students in Pune, Mumbai and several other parts of the state and that the government and educational institutions needed to take note of their concerns. Students have certain demands and have started an agitation in Pune. Keeping this in mind, the state government and educational institutions need to take note of the situation and take steps to find a solution, Pawar said. The remarks came amid the ongoing agitation by MPSC aspirants in Pune seeking action over alleged examination irregularities and other issues concerning the commission.MPSC had initiated a preliminary inquiry following complaints regarding alleged malpractice in the screening examination held on March 22. The Commission had published an advertisement for the Drug Inspector post on July 29, 2025. The screening examination was conducted offline on March 22 at six divisional headquarters in Maharashtra, and its result was declared on June 12. Following the screening examination, 506 candidates were found eligible for interviews. Of these, interviews of 488 candidates were conducted between July 1 and July 22. After the completion of interviews, the Commission published a provisional general merit list comprising 488 candidates, including 485 eligible and three ineligible candidates for the post. Meanwhile, between July 22 and July 26, the Commission received complaints through email from candidates and public representatives alleging malpractice in the March 22 screening examination. The complaints alleged that some candidates had received the question paper or questions before the examination, on March 20, and that these were subsequently circulated through social media or electronic media. The MPSC cancelled the entire recruitment process for the post following irregularities in the examination. (ANI)
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