STF to help UP Board check copying

ALLAHABAD: With a view to putting an effective check on education mafia that promotes use of unfair means in UP Board exam, the state government has decided to seek help of the Special Task Force (STF) of the UP police this year in all 50 districts identified as sensitive by the Board for its 2018 exam set to start in February.

As per additional secretary, UP Board, Shiv Lal deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma during a videoconferencing recently said the STF would be roped in for holding free and fair UP Board examinations this year.

Sharma also holds the portfolio of cabinet minister for secondary education. “The STF will help in keeping the copying mafia away from examination and also help in identifying culprits who every year tarnish the image of the Board by promoting use of unfair means. The government has made its stand clear that no unfair means would be tolerated and anyone found indulging in promoting the same would be dealt with strictly,” he said.

A videoconferencing is scheduled to be held on January 20 wherein apart from the deputy CM, senior officials including the state director general of police besides UP Board officials would review and finalise the strategy to ensure free and fair exam.

The UP Board for its 2018 exam had increased its list of sensitive districts to 50 from the 31 identified last year for proving coded answer sheets. These districts include Aligarh, Agra, Mathura, Hathras, Etah, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Kasganj, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Moradabad, Sambhal, Allahabad, Kaushambi, Hardoi, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, and Fatehpur among others.