Up against an oft-repeated allegation on alleged leak of question papers during the West Bengal Boards’ controlled competitive examinations in recent times, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, conducting the Madhyamik examination 2024, which is set to get underway tomorrow, has introduced a unique step to fend off any allegations of alleged leak of question papers.

As a part of its venture, the secondary board through a notification issued has instructed all the invigilators at all examination centres across the state to apprise the examinees at the centres before the start of writing the examination. The alleged risk involved should anybody try to resort to any kind of mischief like taking a snap of the question papers.

According to the notification released by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, should an examinee be caught in doing any such mischief while writing the examination, he or she would get barred from appearing in the examination and papers written would be deemed to be cancelled for this year.

The Board sources said that a unique step of introducing a hidden code with the serial numbers of question papers has been attached on every page of the question papers, which would, claimed source of the Board, could play spoilsport should anybody tries to mess with the risk to besmirch the examination by resorting to an alleged malpractice as the offender would run the risk of getting pulled up easily.

The notification also bore the best wishes from the President of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, Ramanuj Gangopadhyay for the examinees appearing in this year’s examination.

About 9 lakh students are to appear for this year’s examination, which will continue till 12 February.

The notification also read that carrying of mobiles or any electronic gadgets are strictly prohibited at the examination centres. The examination should be thoroughly searched and if any objectionable article is found with anybody, would be dealt with strongly.

This year’s examination would start at 10am following a change in time schedule.

According to the new schedule, gates of all examination centres would be opened at 8.30am. The examinees would get the question papers at 9.45am and writing would begin sharply at 10. It would get wrapped up by 1pm.