Siliguri: The first day of the Madhyamik examination was conducted smoothly across 657 centres in eight districts of North Bengal on Monday. A total of around 2,03,842 students appeared for the examination in the 8 districts, which commenced at 11 am on Monday. Examinees in the Hills complained of lack of heaters in most centres, resulting in difficulty in writing the papers in the biting cold.
“We were not provided with heaters. It was freezing inside the examination hall. We found it very difficult to write and were shivering. We request the authorities to arrange for heaters in the Hills,” stated Pushpa Rai, examinee. At one or two centres in the Hills, heaters were provided. In Darjeeling town, temperature hovered around 5 degrees.
The district administration, police, forest department and various government agencies were actively engaged in facilitating the smooth conduct of the exam. In forest-adjacent areas, Forest department personnel were deployed early in the morning to ensure the safe passage of examinees.
In the Kalimpong district, the tonal number of examinees was 3,211 (1,675 females and 1,536 males). There are 17 exam centres in the district. In the Darjeeling district, the number of examinees stands at 4,809 (2,400 males and 2,409 females). The total number of venues is 36. In the Siliguri Education District, 13,690 students appeared across 41 centres. The Siliguri Police Commissionerate deployed 600 police personnel across the city and traffic police arranged 25 motorcycles to assist students in reaching exam centres.
In Jalpaiguri, 26,902 candidates appeared across 100 centres, including 11,096 male and 15,806 female students. In Alipurduar, 23,259 students took the exam in 70 centres, comprising 10,551 male and 12,708 female candidates. Cooch Behar saw 36,043 students appearing in 117 schools across 33 centres, with 15,753 male and 20,290 female students. In North Dinajpur, 30,708 students from nine blocks took the exam, including 12,335 boys and 18,373 girls across 101 examination centres. In South Dinajpur, 17,320 students appeared across 53 centers, including 11 main venues and 42 sub-venues. In Malda, 47,900 students took the exam in 122 centres across 19 venues, comprising 20,672 male and 27,228 female candidates.
Special arrangements were made in forest-adjacent areas to ensure students could reach their examination centres safely. The police and Forest department arranged transportation, deploying vehicles in Jaldapara, Buxa, Gorumara, Mahananda and Chapramari.
The first day of the Madhyamik examination concluded peacefully across North Bengal, barring a few minor incidents. In Siliguri, a few students arrived at the wrong venue, but with the assistance of the Siliguri Metropolitan Police, they were directed to the correct centers on time. In Cooch Behar, a student, Papija Khatun, appearing for the exam at Fulbari Haridham High School, fell ill and was admitted to Tufanganj Hospital. Similarly, Kaushik Vaishya, a student from Dak Ghada High School in Mathabhanga, was taken to Sitalkuchi Primary Health Centre
after feeling unwell.
Authorities arranged for both students to complete their examinations. Additionally, in multiple districts, some students forgot their admit cards at home. With police assistance, they were able to retrieve their documents and appear for the examination on time.