Postal dept to recall precious cargo of CBSE question papers

BENGALURU: Cancellation of the CBSE Class 10 exams and postponement of Class 12 exams has put an onerous task on the postal department: despatch of the question papers back to the CBSE headquarters. With these paper bundles dispatched well in advance to nodal offices across states well before commencement on May 4, they need to be collected from them and sent to the CBSE headquarters. Around 21.5 lakh students for Class 10 and nearly 14 lakh students for Class 12 had registered for the exams across the country. 

For the Karnataka postal department, the task has become more complicated in the face of a relentless Covid surge in the state of late. The announcements for both the board exams, scheduled from May 4 to June 14, was made by the Education Minister on April 14, but all examination material had already been sent to all states. 

A reliable postal source said, “We are used to recalling a few Speed Post articles on an emergency basis on special request, but we have never done anything like this earlier.”Any kind of transport of crucial documents like these need to done only with great security, the source added. Since it was examination material, it cannot be retained for long and needs to be returned at the earliest. 

Postal officials confirmed that they were in the process of collecting examination material bundles from across the State, and said it was confidential. The department has been badly hit by Covid, with a total of 53 staffers testing positive, and two employees losing their lives -- A postwoman in Tumakuru head post office and a Sub Postmaster at Saptapur Sub Post died this week, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle, Sharda Sampath said.In addition, 16 post offices have been shut across the state, six each in South Karnataka region and North Karnataka region and four in Bengaluru HQ region.