Bhubaneswar: Following allegations of massive irregularities in the selection of examination centres for the upcoming annual Plus II examination 2020, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) on Sunday decided to exclude 20 allotted centres from conducting the exam.
A decision regarding changing of the examination centres was taken in an emergency meeting of the CHSE exam managing committee today. During the gathering, a thorough discussion was held regarding allegations of two Odisha MLAs- Kishore Mohanty and Santosh Singh Saluja who are members of the committee and parents association.
The exam managing committee has reportedly approved 1142 exam centres for the upcoming annual examination. The CHSE authorities will scrap its earlier notification and issue fresh notification regarding the list of the exam centres.
Meanwhile, the move has come as a major relief for Parents’ Association as well as students who were against the exam centres.
“The centres which did not have any reports of malpractice and any other irregularities have been fixed as exam centres. We are hopeful that the annual exam this year will be conducted in a free and fair manner,” said Santosh Singh Saluja after the meeting.
Asked about the allegations of accepting kickbacks for fixing exam centres by some CHSE officials, MLA Kishore Mohanty said that the corrupt officials in the board will be identified and stringent action will be taken against them.
CHSE controller of examination, Bijay Sahu, however refuted the allegations of centre fixing. “When we fix the centre across Odisha, there must be some disagreement among the members. In larger interest of students, we convened an emergency meeting today and analysed the entire list again. On the basis of the opinion of the committee members, some centres have been changed and a fresh list will be prepared.”
Meanwhile, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Dash said every effort is being made to ensure Matric and Plus II examinations free from malpractice.
“Chief Secretary has directed that no teacher will be allowed to carry mobile phones into the exam centres. I am hopeful that both matric and Plus II exams will be conducted smoothly and results will be declared on time this year,” Dash said.