In view of the question paper leak fiasco during the previous academic year, the Department of pre-university Education (DPUE) is stepping up security measures for the second year pre-university examinations scheduled from March 13 to 28.

The department has introduced squads at taluk-level, in addition to three squads at district-level. Officials in the department said there would be 280 squads deployed at 961 centres across the State. Additional squads will be deployed in bigger taluks. According to DPUE officials, each squad will have three members and a chairman. The members will be chosen from among lecturers, senior lecturers and principals of colleges. Each squad will have a woman member.

The department has identified as many as 116 sensitive and 44 extremely sensitive examination centres which will be monitored with extra caution. Separate city squads will monitor the proceedings at these centres in addition to the other designated squad members.

The deputy commissioners of all the districts have been instructed to be personally present when the special custodians receive the question papers. Special custodians include tahsildars, block education officers and college principals. The DCs will also have their personal squads.

Warnings issued

The department has issued stern warnings against malpractice to examination centres from where the question paper leaks were reported last year.

“If it is a government college, the principal of the college will be dismissed if any irregularities are reported. If it is a private college, action will be taken against the members of the management,” an official in the department said. The previous year, the highest number of irregularities was reported from Bijapur. On the first day of the exam, 19 students were debarred.

Towards the end of the examination schedule, nearly 40 students were debarred in the district. The other sensitive exam centres were from Gulbarga and Chikkaballapur districts. The DPUE also faced an embarrassment as the core papers of Science stream and a few other question papers were leaked before the exam, leading to rescheduling of the entire time table.