SSC examination centres on alert after 2 dummy candidates caught

After reports of two cases of dummy candidates at the ongoing SSC board exams, centres in the Mumbai division are now being more cautious while checking students’

After reports of two cases of dummy candidates at the ongoing SSC board exams, centres in the Mumbai division are now being more cautious while checking students’ admission tickets.

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“We have already asked centres to ensure that photos on the hall tickets are verified with the student. As it is not feasible to check this at the time of students entering the centre, supervisors inside the blocks have been asked to verify pictures in the admission tickets as each block has only 25 students,” said Sandeep Sangave, secretary, Mumbai divisional board.

At a centre in Kandivli, the school’s staff has been asked to ensure that students queue up before they are let in and the security staff checks each hall ticket.

“We also check this again in the class,” said an official from the school. Mulund’s VG Vaze College asked its supervisors to sign each hall ticket for every paper after verifying all the details.

“This is something we do to be extra cautious,” said Vidyadhar Joshi, vice-principal of the college.

The first case of a dummy candidate this year was reported during the first HSC paper at Khardi Vidyalaya in Shahpur. Rahul Ghavat,17, who was to appear for his English paper, asked his friend Nitesh Dhapte, 20, to take the test for him.

The second such case was reported on Friday wherein a 21-year-old MBA student was arrested by the Narpoli police in Bhiwandi for attempting the SSC Hindi exam as a dummy student.

The dummy candidate was identified as Sagar Laxmirajan Vijaya Katla, who was appearing in place of Jagganath Shankar Mulya, 27.

With the board allowing students to see their question papers 10 minutes before exams begin, centres often have to ensure that students are seated in the exam halls at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time.

“There is a big hurdle in detecting such cases beforehand,” said an official at a centre in Dadar.

What centres can do?

Check student’s hall ticket at the entrance

Ask invigilators to check each and every hall ticket and photograph and sign on the hall ticket for every paper

If a photo is not clear or if the invigilator feels that there is something suspicious about the candidate, such students can be interrogated further to ensure that there is no malpractice