During his visit to Kolhapur, Deshmukh said it is noticed that talented students who expect to figure in the merit list but miss it by a few marks feel frustrated. This leaves an adverse impact on their future academic career. The government will soon take a final decision on whether to scrap the merit list or discontinue its publication, he said.

Deshmukh also said that the government is planning to prescribe one small book for each semester instead of the big book for all students in order to reduce the heavy burden of school bags. He said the experiment conducted in Pune has evoked a good response which the government is considering to implement all over the state.