17,000 cameras to keep watch at Noida exam centres

Noida: More than 17,000 cameras with voice recorders have been installed in the district as part of measures to keep a check on copying during the Uttar Pradesh board exams, which are scheduled to begin from Tuesday. There will be around 38,869 students who will appear for the exams this year.
According to the district inspector of schools, the exams will be held across 47 centres. Each centre will have 13 to 15 rooms, where two invigilators and two cameras will monitor the students. Apart from this, cameras have been installed in the lobby, playground and the main gate. Footage from all these cameras will be monitored at a surveillance room that has been set up at Rajkiya Kanya Inter College in Hoshiarpur.
Neeraj Pandey, inspector of schools in the district, said all school principals along with flying squads and sector and zonal magistrates would also have access to CCTV footage on their mobile phones. “The cameras are part of measures that will prevent any kind of cheating either by students or any outsider. There will be guards along with police personnel to ensure no one comes in the vicinity of the exam centres. We have formed as many as four flying squads along with 7 zonal and 16 sector magistrates,” Pandey said.
This year, 20,803 students — 11,492 males and 9,311 females — have applied for the Class X exams. For the Class XII boards, a total of 18,066 students — 10,051 males and 8,015 females — have submitted forms.
Pandey said all the cameras to be installed have been tested and a router has been installed in all exam centres so that footage can be viewed from anywhere. “We had been directed to ensure live feeding of the exams. With this, our seniors in Lucknow will also be able to keep an eye on whether the exams are being conducted fairly or not,” he added.