Gurgaon: Photocopy, internet in shops near board exam centres banned

The directions were issued by Gurgaon deputy commissioner Hardeep Singh on Tuesday under Section 144 of the CrPC to curb cheating during board exams.

The Gurgaon administration has banned the operation of photocopy and fax machines, and internet in shops within 200 metres of examination centres of all school boards across the district.

Students caught cheating through impersonation or by copying will be barred from the examination. (HT File)

The directions were issued by Gurgaon deputy commissioner Hardeep Singh on Tuesday under Section 144 of the CrPC to curb cheating during board exams. The order also stated that no person would be allowed to use instruments/equipment that produce noise in a 200-yard radius of an exam centre.

The directives have been issued because there has been a rise in the number of cheating cases in Gurgaon, the administration said.

The directives will be applicable to establishments around exam centres of all boards, including Haryana Board of School Education, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

To curb cheating during exams in the rural areas, the district administration has asked panchayats to take measures and spread awareness among students. Also, students caught cheating through impersonation, or by copying will be barred from writing the examination. They may or may not be given a chance next year after an inquiry, board officials said.

“We have asked panchayats to ensure copying does not take place in rural centres and if anything like this takes place, these centres would be made ineligible to conduct exams . Also, the panchayat members will be held accountable. Apart from that , movement of outsiders will be restricted near exam centres,” Singh said.

The Gurgaon deputy commissioner has written to the commissioner of police for deployment of personnel near exam centres to ensure law and order, and to avoid disturbance by anti-social elements.

The Haryana board examinations will be held from March 7 to April 8. The timing will be from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and 2:30 to 5pm. No candidate will be allowed into the examination centre without a hall ticket, board officials said.

The CBSE class 12 exams will be held between March 10 and April 15 from 9 am to 12 noon.

There are 63 centres for Haryana state board examination but the district education department does not have data for the CBSE schools.

Singh said all stakeholders have been asked to prevent malpractices and strict vigil would be ensured to prevent this.

The decision to ban photocopy machines was taken as a measure, considering several previous instances of students and others circulating photocopies of question papers and answer keys right before the exams.

“We want to conduct a fair and transparent examination and the board (Haryana) has prepared different set of question papers for students. This time, student sitting in front or at the back, at left or right side will not have the same set of papers. Apart from this, cell phone, calculator, pager or any electronic equipment will not be allowed inside the examination hall,” Neelam Bhandari, district education officer, said.

“Students will have to submit their hall ticket while taking the question paper from the invigilator. The same will be returned to students once they submit their answer sheets,” Bhandari said.