After vehemently ignoring the state’s plight, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Kerala went on conducting its All Indian Entrance Examination for Admission (AIEEA). When the state was battling the unprecedented flood crises, the exams for the academic year 2018-19 were conducted on August 18 and 19. In the previous hearing, the High Court slammed the institution and withheld the publication of the exam results. On September 7, the Kerala HC directed ICAR to cancel the Post Graduate (PG) entrance exam and host a fresh one instead for the Kerala candidates. High Court Slams ICAR for Conducting AIEEA 2018 Exams During Floods, Results Withheld. 

According to The Hindu, Justice A. Muhammed Mustaque issued the instruction based on a writ petition filed by Amal C.T. from Alappuzha and Adarsh K.C. from Kannur who have applied for the PG programme. Due to massive flood, many of the candidates could not even appear in the entrance exam on August. Other institutes too cancel their exams and rescheduled it for the state’s candidates. Despite continuous requests from the candidates, ICAR conducted the exams which instigated this debate. To secure the students’ career, the High Court ordered ICAR to reconduct the exam. ICAR cited the reason for not heeding the requests of the petitioners and other candidates since the examination had already been delayed.

The Kerala HC quoted the date of nearly 57 per cent of the candidates to be participating in the PG entrance exam. The low attendance rate itself explains that it was clearly not possible for any person to travel from one place to another due to the flood situation in the state. The court further alleged that the institute overlooked to protect public interest at the need of the hour. Such failure would certainly warrant interference from the court. Meanwhile, the ICAR had declared the AIEEA UG and PhD results and not the AIEEA PG 2018 re-exam results considering the HC’s earlier order. The exams were conducted on August 18 and 19 respectively at more than 50 centres across the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2018 12:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).