THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has received widespread criticism on social media for conducting the Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical (KEAM) exams on Thursday amid the steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan faced flak for his "stubbornness" in conducting the exams in these testing times after photos and videos of crowds of students and parents in front of exam centres went viral on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp groups.
The photo of a heavy crowd of parents and candidates in front of a centre at St Mary's higher secondary school at Pattom in the capital without adhering to any social distancing norms was shared by several people. Unlike other districts, Thiruvananthapuram remains an epicentre of the virus spread. The exam centre is in a neighbourhood where local transmission of cases with unknown sources of infection has been reported.
For the last two weeks, the situation in the capital has deteriorated and is widely considered to be a prelude to community transmission. Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor shared a photo on Twitter and stated, "This crowd of students crowding to enter an exam centre for #keam2020 have made a mockery of the social distancing norms. A Govt which wants to combat #Covid19 would not be foolish enough to persist with these exams when students (&this M.P.) have pleaded for their postponement!"
Celebrities also shared photos of the crowds. Malayalam film actor Sunny Wayne posted a photo on Facebook saying that all the centres in Thiruvananthapuram had similar crowds.
Film director Ashiq Abu, who is a Left sympathiser, criticized the government on Facebook. "Examinations to test the lives of students should come to an end. Give more value to life than the competitive exams," he said in the post with a picture and video of the crowd in front of the school.
Many also said that the state government has shown double standards in handling the COVID-19 situation in the state. "The Chief Minister lashed out against the opposition for holding a large gathering in protest. On the other hand, he wanted to conduct the examination to prove that Kerala has succeeded in the smooth conduct of exams. However, the government could have postponed the exams," a techie working in Technopark said.