Devbrat Patnaik

Bhubaneswar: The Board of Secondary Education (BSE) authorities today informed that the Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET) examination has been cancelled following a probe into reports of leakage of question papers.

Terming the incident as unfortunate, BSE president Jahan Ara Begum confirmed about the cancellation of the examination stating that the dates of re-examination will be intimated soon.

Soon after the first sitting of the examination, the examinees also confirmed the report stating that original question papers match with the leaked papers that have gone viral on social media.

Meanwhile, BSE secretary Ramashish Hazra informed that the Board has written to the Crime Branch seeking a probe into the question paper leak.

As per initial reports, the photos of the question papers reportedly surfaced on social media and went viral.

The exam was scheduled to be conducted in two shifts today. While the first shift was from 10 AM till 12:30 PM, the second shift was scheduled to be held from 2 PM till 4:30 PM.

In Rourkela, the candidates have been sitting on dharna in front of the Uditnagar High School, which was one of the few examination centres in the area, following the cancellation of exams today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULLI5UcnKZQ

Soon after the paper leak allegations surfaced, OPCC chief Niranjan Patnaik targeted the State government and stated, "Be it the ASO exam debacle or this OTET question paper leak, the BJD's message to our youth is very clear- We will not allow level playing field for the aspirants and help the select few to advance our sinister motives. BJD can't provide job opportunities to our youth and makes things difficult for them in whatever little options they have."

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan too criticised CM Naveen Patnaik over such lapses and said, "With such incidents happening, people will lose trust on the system and there are no words to condemn State government's carelessness towards future generations."

On the other hand, School & Mass Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra said that the matter will be probed and action will be taken after departmental inquiry and there is no need for aspirants to be disappointed.

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