Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant today said most of non-agriculture universities in Maharashtra have asked the State government to request the UGC to allow holding of final year examinations and announcing results by October 31. There are 13 non-agriculture universities in the State. Speaking to reporters, Samant said all universities have also agreed that it was not possible for students to step out of their homes to give examination given the COVID-19 threat.<br />'' <br />''Samant said the examinations may be held in the first week of October and will be of lesser marks. On the mode of conducting exams, the Minister said, Vice chancellors have suggested three ways of holding the examinations with online or open book or assignment options. He said the mode of examination will be declared on Wednesday. <br />''<br />''<br />''He added that a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) is expected on Wednesday. He said a total of 7,62,962 students will appear for the final year exams across universities.<br />'' <br />''The Minister also said that the Amravati University and Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) have suggested holding of examinations and declaring of results by November 10. He said the remaining varsities, including that of Mumbai, Pune and others, have demanded the State government to propose to the UGC to hold the exams and announce results by October 31.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Upholding the UGC guidelines, the Supreme Court had last week held that no state and university can promote students in the final year/terminal semester without holding examinations, observing performance in such exams is a "reflection of competence" of the students.</span><br />