Second day of Madhyamik sees rerun of question paper leak, Partha intervenes

Kolkata: The second day of the Madhyamik examination on Wednesday saw a repetition of the first day's incident, where the question paper was found circulating on WhatsApp soon after the commencement of examination.

On Wednesday as well, a portion of the English question paper was circulated through WhatsApp, a while after the start of the examination.

The same incident on two consecutive days forced the state Education minister Partha Chatterjee to intervene. "If any student is caught with mobile phone inside the examination hall from Thursday, his/her examination will not only be cancelled, but he/she will not be allowed to sit for the examination further," Chatterjee said.

The minister also communicated the government's stand in this regard to the president of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Kalyanmoy Ganguly.

The Education department has also asked the Board officials to act tough if any invigilator or non-teaching staff is found with mobile phone inside the examination hall.

An official pointed out that there have been a few cases where a thorough search of the examinees could not be done at the venue gate due to objections from some students and as a result, they had entered the hall with mobile phones.

"Despite repeated requests to the students, it is sad that they are not adhering to the directions of the Board and are entering the examination halls with mobile phones," the official said.

The state Education minister has sought a report of the incident from the Board president regarding the back-to-back circulation of question papers on WhatsApp.

It may be mentioned that after similar circulation of question

paper on the first day of the examination, the Board had filed an FIR with the Cyber Crime Police station of Bidhannagar police commissionerate.

Meanwhile, a provision of 10 totos and a Maruti van has been made by Bidhannagar Welfare Society to help the students reach their examination centres for free.

The Education minister also announced a number of initiatives by his department to observe the 200th birth anniversary of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

The Sanskrit College and University will unveil an archive on Vidyasagar, while institutions will hold extempore and other similar programmes on the occasion.

"We have already written to the Centre, seeking its nod for release of a postage stamp to commemorate the occasion. The institutions in the state where Vidyasagar had set foot will be lit up with attractive lights to mark the occasion that falls in September this year," Chatterjee said.