Pune: SPPU 2019 Pattern Students Seek One Final Exam Chance; 27,631 Affected, Claim Protesters
· Free Press Journal
Pune: Students of Savitribai Phule Pune University’s (SPPU) 2019 academic pattern have intensified their protest, demanding one more special supplementary examination to clear their pending subjects. The students have been on an indefinite hunger strike and claim that thousands could be affected if they are not given another opportunity to appear for the examinations. The protest has been continuing for around two to two-and-a-half months, according to the students.
They said the current hunger strike entered its sixth day on Oct. 3 and its eighth day on Monday, with around 80 to 90 students staying at the protest site every day. The students claim that the university has been giving them assurances for nearly two months but has not taken a concrete decision. They are now seeking intervention from the state government. Adv Pradeep Naik, who met the protesting students, said discussions would be held with former Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Anup More and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to find a solution.
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Day 8 of the hunger strike at the #SPPU gates. 2019 pattern students want one final supplementary exam to clear their backlogs. Students claim 27,631 are affected. Two months of assurances, no decision yet. Will #Maharashtra step in? #SPPUProtest #2019Pattern pic.twitter.com/drRwBUow2V
— Varad Bhatkhande | Journalist (@VaradBhatkhande) October 5, 2026
Students demand one more chance
The protesting students are from the 2019 academic pattern and have pending subjects. Their main demand is for a special or optional supplementary examination that would give them another chance to clear their backlogs.
One student said the university had earlier issued a circular related to supplementary examinations for the 2024 pattern. The students questioned why a similar opportunity could not be given to those from the 2019 pattern.
The students said they have held several protests over the issue. They also claimed that they had submitted representations and held discussions with university officials, but the issue remained unresolved.
According to one protester, the students have been assured for the past two months that the administration was “positive” about their demand. However, they said no final decision has been announced.
Pune Police Step Up Action Against MPSC Protesters, Serve Notices To Around 100Students claim 27,631 are affected
The number of students affected has also emerged as a major point in the agitation. A student said protesters had initially estimated that around 10,000 students were affected. However, they claimed that the university later gave them a figure of 27,631 students.
The figure could not be independently verified from an accessible university document based on the material available for this report. It should therefore be treated as a figure cited by the protesting students and not as an independently confirmed university figure.
The students fear that without another opportunity to clear their pending subjects, their academic progress and future plans could be affected.
Pune Police Step Up Action Against MPSC Protesters, Serve Notices To Around 100Hunger strike and police intervention
The protesters said Sept 28 marked another major phase of their agitation. They said they had not left the university gate from Sept 28 to Oct 3 and were continuing their indefinite hunger strike. One student claimed that a previous protest continued until around 3 am. The protesters said they were later removed from the site ahead of a convocation programme at the university.
They claimed that they were given an assurance that a positive decision would be taken within 15 days. The protesters also alleged that the police had called them during the latest agitation and that the university had filed complaints while questioning whether some protesters were actually students of the university.
Pimpri-Chinchwad: PCMC Schools Face Shortage Of 396 TeachersNaik promises government intervention
Pradeep Naik said he was approached by the students and subsequently discussed the issue with More. Naik said More had responded positively and assured the students that the matter would be discussed with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“We will take a delegation, hold that meeting as soon as possible, and try to immediately resolve this issue concerning the students’ future,” Naik said. Naik also said he had not been able to contact the university Vice-Chancellor immediately as it was the weekend. He said attempts would be made to contact the university and take the matter forward.
He said the aim was to resolve the protest at the earliest and ensure that students did not feel compelled to take extreme steps because of academic uncertainty.
Pune Police Step Up Action Against MPSC Protesters, Serve Notices To Around 100What is the university’s position?
The dispute is not about SPPU completely stopping examinations for students under the 2019 pattern.
The university’s examination systems have continued to show 2019-pattern students appearing for backlog and remaining-attempt examinations in 2026. The issue raised by the protesters is about an additional special opportunity beyond the examinations available under the existing system.
The students are seeking a one-time special or optional re-examination for those who still have uncleared subjects.
The university’s reported position is that its existing rules do not contain a provision for such a special optional re-examination.
This is also why the students’ comparison with the 2024 pattern has become central to the protest. They are seeking what they see as one final opportunity before the transition from the 2019 pattern to newer academic structures leaves them without a way to complete their degrees.