The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Examination 2023 started today with the first paper being done peacefully.

Around 8.52 lakh examinees are appearing for the board exams this year at 2,349 centres. Over one lakh additional aspirants are appearing for the exam this year as compared to that of the last year. The exams started amid stringent measures and a three-layer security, including metal detectors and radio frequency detectors.

The authorities of the exam centres took particular initiatives to check that no students carry mobile phones inside the examination hall during the exams, following instructions from the council.

The exam began with papers of Bengali (A), English (A), Hindi (A), Nepali (A), Urdu, Santhali, Odia, Telugu, Gujarati and Punjabi.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee took to her social media and wished good luck to the HS aspirants praying for their bright future while state urban development and municipal affairs and housing department minister and mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation visited Chetla Girls’ High School.

He also distributed water bottles and greeting cards to the examinees.

According to sources in the council, the papers were done peacefully and no reports of malpractices were reported.

The council president, Chiranjib Bhattacharjee too visited the Sanskrit Collegiate School with other officials of the council to take note of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Metro Railway announced eight special Metro services for the HS examinees.

The city Metro has decided to run four special services between 10 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 5 pm each.

Likewise, the state transport department has made arrangements for special tram and bus services on different routes during the days of the board exams.

The department has announced plans to operate services along 14 bus routes covering various parts of the city and its adjoining areas between Amta and Esplanade, Hari Mohan Ghosh College and Howrah Station, Joka and Barasat, Domjur and BBD Bagh, Park Circus and Dankuni, Baruipur and Howrah, Rajabazar and Ghatakpukur, Amtala and Howrah, Barasat and Barrackpore, Chaitol and Rajabazar, Tollygunge and Madhyamgram, Tollygunge and Ghatakpukur, Habra and Naihati and Baduria and Barasat.

The tram services would be operated from Shyambazar to Esplanade, Tollygunge, Ballygunge and Gariahat and Esplanade at an interval of 30 minutes during the exam days.