Govt of Assam dismisses claims of another paper leak as geography questions go viral on social media

By Team Newsable | First Published Mar 18, 2023, 5:49 PM IST

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Education Minister Ranoj Pegu quickly dismissed the alleged leak of geography paper, the exam planned on Monday, maintaining it was an 'attempt to disrupt the entire atmosphere.'

The Assam government denied reports of a new question paper leak on Saturday, March 18, claiming that efforts were made to 'disrupt the entire environment' after alleged photos of a geography paper went viral on social media.

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Two cases of question paper leaks from class 10 examinations administered by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) were found earlier this week, leading to the cancellation of both tests.

At around 11:00 am on Saturday, the purported first page of the geography question paper began making the rounds on social media, especially WhatsApp, leading to panic among aspirants.

However, Pegu alleged that the 2021 geography question paper was edited and distributed on social media, confusing examinees as there was no class 10 board exam that year due to the raging COVID pandemic.

Denying any leak of the paper, CM tweeted, "It appears that some individuals are making up fake High School Leaving Certificate test paper leaks to disrupt the atmosphere as a whole."

"@assampolice will investigate to determine the identities of the groups and take appropriate action," he added. Pegu also claimed that no exam papers had been leaked.

"The allegedly leaked Geography Question Paper circulated on social media is a fraud. The SEBA authority has verified that it is a forgery. Instructed concerned officer to file an FIR at the nearest police station," he tweeted.

Inspector of Schools, Nagaon has lodged FIR at Nagaon Sadar Police Station regarding fake Question Paper of Geography examination of HSLC. Police will definitely find out and book the culprits spreading the false news. pic.twitter.com/vfNZ9bfBVk

— Ranoj Pegu (@ranojpeguassam)

He also claimed before a television channel that a student from Nagaon had been identified for 'editing an old question paper and circulating it.'

'Since the beginning of the Class 10 exam 2023, numerous groups have purposefully circulated false information. The test is not conducted on social media but by the SEBA. I advise students to ignore anything they read on social media unless the Board confirms it," Pegu said.

He also shared two screenshots on Twitter, one of the first pages of the original 2021 geography question paper and the other of the supposedly edited one circulated during the day with claims that it was incorrect this year.

This led to confusion as the class 10 examination was not held in 2021, and students were not issued question papers.

Both the SEBA class 10 and Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (ASHEC) class 12 examinations for 2021 have been cancelled after being postponed due to the pandemic.

The results were announced based on an evaluation procedure recommended by two expert committees formed specifically for the purpose.

The pass rate for Class 10 state exam students increased to more than 93 per cent in 2021, up from less than 65 per cent the previous year. Two exams were cancelled this week after question paper leaks were found.

The general science exam, planned for March 13, was cancelled the night before, and the Modern Indian Language (MIL) and English papers, which were scheduled for Saturday, were cancelled by SEBA on Thursday night.

The first cancelled exam will now be conducted on March 30 and the second on April 1. The CID is investigating the paper leak case, and 31 individuals have already been arrested, including two masterminds.

(With inputs from PTI)

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