The Central Board of Secondary Education postponed all board exams scheduled to be held on 2 April in Punjab in view of a bandh called by a number of Dalit organisations on 2 April to protest the alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act.
Exam will be held as per schedule in the rest of the country, including the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The date of the examinations in Punjab will be declared later.
The decision came after several Dalit organisations called for a 'bandh' on 2 April expressing concerns over the alleged "dilution" of SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The board which has recently been facing a lot of flak for paper leaks and rescheduling of examinations, issued a statement saying it had received a letter from Punjab’s Director General of School Education who flagged security concerns in the state due to the call for bandh.
“The Board has received a letter of request dated 01.04.2018 from the Director General School Education of Punjab Government stating that due to apprehensions of law and order problems and other disturbances on 2nd April 2018 during the call for Bharat Bandh given by some organisations, the state government has taken a decision to keep all schools closed on that day and have also requested CBSE to postpone all its examinations to be held on 2nd April 2018,” read the notice issued by CBSE.
In view of the Bharat Bandh call on 2 April, the Punjab government has decided to suspend the services of public transport across the state tomorrow, PTI reported.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appealed to the people of the state, especially the members of the scheduled castes community, to maintain restraint and maintain law and order in the larger public interest.
The Supreme Court on 20 March diluted the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, in a bid to protect honest public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act.
The apex court said government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens too should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.
But Dalit organisations, including the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, and some political parties fear the dilution of the provisions might lead to increase in violence against Dalits.
(With PTI inputs)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)