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Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) had egg on its face when the Chemistry paper in the ongoing plus two examinations scheduled for tomorrow had to be cancelled and rescheduled for March 30 following the leak of the question paper barely a day after the Physics question paper got leaked.
The decision was taken by the Higher Education department after a high level meeting. “We have decided to reschedule the Chemistry paper on March 30 as per the recommendation of the examination management committee of CHSE,” Higher Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra said.
Alleging that it was a conspiracy to defame the department, he said he had asked the department to conduct an internal inquiry into the leak, which he admitted had caused terrible embarrassment.
The action by the Higher Education department followed the publication of a news item in a leading Odia daily which claimed that the question paper for the Chemistry paper scheduled tomorrow had leaked in Sambalpur. Though it was not immediately clear if the claim made by the newspaper was correct, the authorities did not want to take any chances,  Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, it may be noted, has already ordered an inquiry by the crime branch into the leak of the Physics paper yesterday.
While the crime branch initiated its investigation today, the Higher Education department has asked all district collectors to re-strengthen the security arrangement and intensify vigilance at the centres where question papers are stored.
“The DG Police has been requested to provide adequate security at the examination centres. But it is not enough. The position of question papers needs to be constantly supervised by observers. The council has been asked to engage observers for every centre. Our efforts need to be supplemented by the district authorities,” said a letter of Higher Education secretary GK Dhal to all the district Collectors.
The leak of question papers for the second day running has caused widespread resentment among students appearing in the plus two examinations. Nearly 2.9 lakh students of 1295 colleges in the State are appearing in the examinations this year.