New Delhi: A footage of drone deployment in an exam centre in Chausala village of Maharashtra’s Beed district caught huge attention. The drones were deployed to check mass-copying.
On February 10, as the English paper of Class 12 Maharashtra State Board exams was underway, a drone deployed there did its job: it captured some people trying to pass answer chits through windows at the Chausala centre. An FIR was registered against 17 people, including the staff at the exam centre, following an investigation. They were replaced.
Marathwada is hub of copying
Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division (previously Aurangabad), which comes under the Marathwada region, has become notorious for mass copying. The Indian Express reported that in the past three years, 44% or almost half of all copying cases during Class 12 and Class 10 Maharashtra State Board exams have been recorded from this division. The division includes Beed, Jalna, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Hingoli and Parbhani districts.
While Parbhani reported the maximum number of copying cases during this period, Beed recorded the highest number of organised attempts.
The Beed district administration took stock of the situation and before this year’s state board exams, it implemented measures to prevent copying. Surveillance through drone was one of the measures taken. As per officials, they signed a contract with a service provider for supply of two drones with a 15-km range, along with trained professionals to deploy and operate them on the days of exam.
The “sensitive” centres notorious for cheating were under drone watch. However, random checking of exam centres based on inputs from officials was also carried out.
Rural exam centres under drone surveillance
Exam centres in rural parts, including the one at Chausala, were under surveillance. Some centres are situated in the middle of fields and so it’s easier to carry out mass copying there.
The state government had first thought of deploying drones to check copying before the last year’s state board exams. Beed and Chhatrapati Sambhaninagar are the first districts to deploy the drones to keep tabs over copying.
Besides deployment of drones, another measure to check copying is installation of CCTV cameras. As per a state board directive, these CCTVs are required to be installed in all exam centres. In Beed, their footage is being live-streamed.