Govt cancels CBSE class XII board examination

The government on Tuesday decided to cancel the CBSE Class XII board exams amid the continuing Covid-19 pandemic across the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that the decision has been taken in the interest of students. The CBSE will take steps to compile the results of Class XII students according to a well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner.

This scheme is set to end next month. Additionally, it may consider direct transfer of some monetary benefits, officials said. “If at all the Centre decides to do something it will be through ex-gratia relief using Jan Dhan accounts like it did during the first wave. It had first announced an ex-gratia payment of ~500 to each woman accountholder for three months from April 2020. Extra free LPG cylinders along with free foodgrain were part of the same set of measures. Over 400 million Jan Dhan accountholders were eligible for the one-time dole amounting to ~1,500 for three months,” the officials said. Some of these announcements are expected this month as states have started easing restrictions. Sources said that the government is focussing on immediate relief, instead of long-term policy to boost demand. And unlike last year, it may make the announcements in parts and not as a mega stimulus package. In a recent paper, economist Jean Drèze, who teaches at Ranchi University, and independent researcher Anmol Somanchi said in transfers of ~500 to women in April-june 2020, not only were 40 per cent of poor households left out because they did not include an adult woman with a JDY account, but roughly a third of women with a JDY account were also denied benefits.