Multiple states, including Bengal, have opposed the University Grants Commission’s directive to hold final-semester exams for college and university students by September-end, citing the exponential rise in coronavirus cases across the country.

While the Delhi government on Saturday cancelled all exams at universities under its control, the governments of Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Punjab have urged the Centre to review the UGC’s decision. The governments of Maharashtra and Rajasthan had, before the UGC issued the directive, cancelled exams at its colleges and universities and are unlikely to change their decision as Covid cases continue to rise.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to re-examine the UGC directive. Mamata said the July 6 order would adversely affect the interests of the students.

“I understand that various states have already raised the issue with the government of India, expressing their concerns and disagreement with the new guidelines,” Mamata wrote. “I would, therefore, request you to get the matter re-examined immediately...,” she added.

Mamata said she had received hundreds of emails from students and teachers flagging their concern about holding exams amid the pandemic.

The chief minister pointed out that the Bengal government had already issued an advisory on June 27 laying stress on giving weightage to internal assessments and performance in previous semesters.

“Besides, our advisory has a provision for holding special exams after the situation gets normalised, for such students who wish to appear in a formal examination instead of an alternative evaluation method,” Mamata wrote.

In Delhi, state education minister Manish Sisodia announced that the universities under the state government would award degrees to students on the basis of performance in previous semesters.

“In light of the major disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Delhi government has decided to cancel all Delhi state universities exams,” he tweeted.

Sisodia also held a media conference where he said: “No teaching has taken place for the last semester in the universities under the Delhi government. We need to take extraordinary decisions in extraordinary times. The government has decided to cancel all ensuing examinations in universities under it. The universities have been asked to award marks on the basis of previous examinations. They will devise a formula.”

There are eight universities under the Delhi government. Of them, Delhi Technological University has already held online exams for final-year students. Netaji Subhas University of Technology began online open-book exams on Friday.

The other institutions, including National Law University, Ambedkar University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, had not taken a decision on exams.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to the Prime Minister urging him to cancel exams at the central universities as well. CPM chief Sitaram Yechury, too, has opposed the conduct of exam and demanded award of degrees on the basis of previous semesters.

Central universities in Delhi such as Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University are planning to hold online exams although students and teachers have largely opposed it.

A DU teacher said: “The UGC has the mandate to ensure that standards are maintained in higher educational institutions. In its judgment in the DU vs Raj Singh case, the Supreme Court has interpreted that UGC regulations on academic standards are binding on universities. Defiance of UGC norms may become a concern for students passing out this year.”

Lawyer Ravi Bhardwaj said the UGC may be empowered to ensure standards but the state governments can deviate from its policies depending on the local situation.

“The UGC can issue guidelines. But they cannot be implemented in isolation (and ignoring) a grave situation on the ground,” he said, adding that the Delhi government could go against the exam directive.

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said it was not in a position to conduct exams by September-end as several educational institutions have been converted into Covid care centres.

Chief minister K. Palaniswami requested the Centre to grant “freedom to states to work out their own assessment methods, without compromising on quality and academic credibility”.

In a letter to Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, he said it would be difficult to implement the UGC guidelines because of many constraints and difficulties, which include that of students reaching the exam centres.

It is also not feasible to conduct online exams, considering problems related to digital access of students.

“Moreover, most of the government and private arts and science and engineering colleges, polytechnics and other institutions of higher learning (including the hostels, classrooms) in the state have been converted to Covid-19 care centres,” Palaniswami wrote.

“Therefore, if we are not in a position to conduct examinations even after waiting till September 2020, it would jeopardise the future of the students who are in their final year/semester,” the chief minister said.

It will also unnecessarily affect the future of students recruited through campus selection and those who have applied for courses abroad, who may have to join in October after the ban on international travel is lifted, he said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media in Chennai.

The Congress government in Punjab has also sought a rethink.