Question papers taken on helicopter to Maoist-infested exam centre in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma

To ensure uninterrupted conduct of examination in the Maoist-infested areas of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district bordering Odisha’s Malkangiri and Koraput, question papers of Class 10 and 12 Board exams were sent to an exam centre by helicopter.

As per reports, 36 students are scheduled to appear for Class 10 and 12 Board exams at an exam centre in Jagargunda in the district. The area is densely infested with Maoists and the police conduct combing operations in the area regularly.

This is the first time that the Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education has set up question paper distribution centre in Sukma district. Earlier, the question papers were transported from Jagdalpur in Bastar district, which is 110 km away.

The state board examinations commenced on March 1. The exam will be conducted across 16 examination centres in Sukma district. A total of 1883 regular and 18 private students will appear for the Class 10 exam while the Class 12 exam will be taken by 1495 regular and 33 private students.

Recently, the Chhattisgarh government decided to conduct state board exams for Classes 10 and 12 twice in the same academic session. The decision was announced by the School Education Department. While the academic year for the implementation of the two board exams has not been finalised yet, the education department mentioned that the first phase of final board examinations will be held in March and the second one in July.