Announcement regarding college, school exams on April 14: Uddhav Thackeray

In his virtual address to the state, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that the ongoing lockdown in Maharashtra will be extended till April 30. Earlier in the day, chief ministers of all the states had a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which they discussed the situation in each state and also about the extension of the lockdown. The announcement by Udhav Thackeray came a few hours after this meeting.

Since the lockdown was announced in March, the examinations that were scheduled to happen at that time had to be postponed. Now with the lockdown being extended, the big question that still remains unanswered is when will these exams be held?

Addressing the question, CM Thackeray in his speech said, "The lockdown has been extended from April 14 to April 30. I will make an announcement for college as well as school examinations on April 14."

१४ नंतर ३० एप्रिल पर्यंत हा लॉकडाऊन राहील पण १४ नंतर साधारणतः काय करणार याच्या सूचना मग शाळा आणि विद्यापीठांच्या परीक्षा, उद्योगधंद्यांच काय होणार याची सगळ्यांची उत्तरे मी आपल्याला १४ तारखेपर्यंत देणार आहे.

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) April 11, 2020

During his speech, he appealed to the citizens to continue to follow lockdown norms. He also warned that failure to follow instructions will lead to a further extension. 

"The lockdown until April 30 will only be successful if we follow social distancing and stay at home. Else we may have to extend,"  CM Thackeray said while addressing the citizens via social media.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown which will come to an end on April 14. However, as the number of cases for the coronavirus or COVID-19 in India is not coming down, there is no other option but to extend the lockdown. 

In this crisis, Maharashtra is one of the worts impacted states at the moment and also being termed as the epicentre of the pandemic. There are 1,666 cases being recorded as of April 11, 7:08 pm in Maharashtra. While the move by Thackeray has been deemed necessary, the people are sure to face inconvenience due to the extension.