An appalling incident came to light in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur, where B.A. Civil Services students were seen indulging in unfair practices inside the examination hall. They were blatantly cheating by using their mobile phones to find responses to the questions asked. What’s more concerning is the fact that the invigilators themselves allowed the students to use their mobile phones in return for Rs 300. The incident allegedly happened on April 22 at Sarvodaya College, located in Mul and affiliated with Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University. A video of these students searching for answers on Google and AI tools is making the rounds on social media. The fact that the code of conduct was breached by students aspiring to become civil servants is worrisome. At an age where they should be swotting hard to earn the coveted position, they are resorting to unauthorised aid, which can lead to cancellation of the examination. This demonstrates how deeply entrenched cheating and corruption are in high-stakes competitive and entrance examinations in India. According to media reports, the examination centre did not even have a proper seating arrangement for candidates. Around 400 students take the exam at this centre, with three students stuffed in one seat. Due to space crunch, some even had to sit on the floor to write the exam. Besides this, the centre does not have a washroom facility for the test-takers. The cheating was exposed when the students who witnessed the incident staged protests outside the examination centre. They were the ones who refused to offer money to use mobile phones. They revealed that the invigilators are charging Rs 300 per person to allow the use of mobile phones. Woefully, this is not one shocking incident that has made headlines. Over the past few years, cases of students openly cheating inside the halls and systematic paper leaks with insiders involved in big scams have been the talk of the town. While some organising authorities have vowed not to let such incidents happen, others are yet to take a proactive call on the issue. Suggested | Why Are Schools Pushing Private Publishers? NHRC Seeks Answers Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Education, CBSE, JEE, UPSC and around the world. Deepali Samaniya has been covering education for the past 2 years with a passion for SEO and a knack for crafting engaging stories. She specialises in... View More