Class 12 exam cancelled in Uttar Pradesh after paper leak

A Class 12 examination under the Uttar Pradesh Board was cancelled in 24 districts or about a third of the state, on suspicion that it was leaked in Ballia. The incident has put Yogi Adityanath's government in the dock, coming within four months of the UP Teachers' Eligibility Test paper being leaked.

Classes 10 and 12 examinations under the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, commonly referred to as the UP Board, are currently being held in the state. On Monday, when the English examination was scheduled for class 12, a particular series of question paper was discovered to have been leaked in Ballia, following which the examination was cancelled in 24 out of 75 districts, including in Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Gorakhpur and others where this series of the paper was to be distributed. The examination was held as scheduled in the remaining districts. The paper has now been rescheduled for April 13.

The district inspector of schools (DIOS) of Ballia, Brajesh Kumar, was suspended with immediate effect and the UP Police Special Task Force (STF) was handed over the investigation. The government said that the guilty could be booked under NSA even as questions arose over the successive governments' inability to put a stop to instances of papers being leaked.

Minister for secondary education Gulab Devi said the papers were locked in examination centres and opened only in front of the administrative officers and promised action against those involved in the act.

In November last year, the UPTET was cancelled after the paper was leaked, inconveniencing 20 lakh aspirants who had reached their examination centres. Since Yogi Adityanath came to power in March 2017, this is the fifth major case of examination paper being leaked.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was quick to attack the government. "The organised business of leaking papers under the BJP government continues in its second term. At least on paper should the BJP government run bulldozers on these paper mafias?" said Yadav.

Under the Yadav government too such instances had been reported, including the cancellation of the UP Combined Pre Medical Test in 2014 and the UP PCS preliminary examination in 2015.