HYDERABAD: The governments of AP and Telangana informed the High Court on Thursday that they were prepared to install CCTV cameras with recording facility on an experimental basis in some of the examination halls and strongrooms connected to a central monitoring room at the district headquarters and the state capital to prevent mass copying in SSC public examinations scheduled to begin on Tuesday next.
The court asked both the states to submit the action plans to put an end to mass copying in SSC and Intermediate public examinations permanently.
A division bench comprising acting chief justice Dilip B Bhosale and justice P Naveen Rao was dealing with a PIL filed by Srinivas Guntupalli of Eluru in AP seeking declaration of the failure of both the governments to take effective steps for conduct of public examinations in schools in both the states and prevent mass copying and guided copying, as illegal and contrary to the provisions of AP Education Act, 1982 and the Andhra Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices and Unfair Means) Act, 1997.
On an earlier occasion, the bench had asked both the state governments to explore the possibilities of recording the conduct of SSC public examinations at least in five schools in each state on an experimental basis by using computer tabs and inform it on Thursday. On Thursday, the counsel for AP said the authorities, on an experimental basis, installed CCTV cameras at the examination centres of some schools in each district and connected them to the office of the DEO concerned. Besides, 150 flying squads were formed to make surprise visits to prevent mass copying. The counsel further said installation of cameras in strongrooms was in progress.
As for Telangana state, its counsel said the authorities decided to install CCTV cameras at all public examination centres in all the 10 districts of the state. Steps would also be taken to implement the measures being initiated by the AP state to curb mass copying, he added. The counsel for the petitioner urged the court to post the matter to April so as to review the results of the steps taken by both the state governments to curb mass copying.