Barbed wires to drones: How Haryana is battling cheating in board exams

Gurgaon: Flying squads, surprise inspections, 500-metre no-go zones, police forces on roofs, barbed wires on walls and drones for surveillance. These are some of the drastic measures that authorities have had to take to clamp down on cheating in Haryana Board exams, though the menace is far from being quelled.
Officials of Haryana School Education Board (HSEB) said on Thursday that the number of cheating cases had declined over the years, but authorities had no option but to employ extreme measures, given the magnitude of the problem.
Reports of students using unfair means — from carrying mobile phones and chits to employing proxies — are rampant every year as state boards are held. Cheating, it appears, is almost normalised in the state.
In 2015, Haryana recorded 5,064 incidents of cheating. This came down to 4,444 in 2019, fell steadily over the years, but it was still 1,087 in 2024.
This year, 97 cases of cheating have been detected since board exams for classes 10 and 12 began from Feb 27. The papers for Class 10 students will conclude on March 19, and for Class 12, on April 2. Earlier this week, as the English language paper for Class 10 was being conducted, 79 students were caught cheating from different parts of the state.
This included 34 ‘dummy' students appearing for the examinees at Mount Aravali Public School in Nuh. Two of them told police they were taking the exam for their girlfriends' brothers. Others were family members or friends of examinees on a rescue mission.
And another three were paid money to clear the exam for a student. Nuh deputy commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said action was taken after this racket was busted on March 3.
"We increased security and a flying squad was formed. Such cases were reported from the centres for open school, and additional forces were deployed at such centres," the DC said, adding that eventually the perception about cheating must be changed to stop students from opting for it.
Nuh SP Vijay Pratap said there are around 15-20 policemen each deployed at all 59 centres in the district.
"There are patrolling units for each centre. Vehicles are stationed at each centre to catch any cheaters and take them to the police station. We are also using drones for monitoring," Pratap said.
At another centre in Nuh on March 1, police used batons to chase away bystanders who were standing within a 500-metre radius of the school.
Barbed wires were installed on walls at centres in Jhajjar to block anyone from throwing cheat sheets inside. And students in Nuh were made to remove their shoes before entering the classroom.
In Jhajjar, police officers were stationed on rooftops to prevent anyone from throwing cheat sheets from above. Jhajjar deputy commissioner Pradeep Dahiya said sub-divisional magistrates and flying squads, along with officials of the education department, are conducting random inspections at the centres.
"Strict action will be taken against the officials in case of any lapses on their part in conducting exams," he said. Haryana govt, this year, ordered that there will be no classes after 10.30am in schools where board exams are being held. The schools are to be vacated before the papers begin. Earlier, the staff was allowed to stay in schools during the exams, but no one is allowed now.
HSEB officials said more than one-third -- 588 – of 1,433 exam centres across the state have been identified as sensitive or hyper-sensitive to the use of unfair means. At each of these, one additional observer has been deployed. Govt is also taking action against any lapses or collusion.
Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini between Feb 28 and March 2 ordered the suspension of 25 cops, including four DSPs and three SHOs, who were allegedly involved in assisting the cheaters. In addition, FIRs have been registered against four invigilators from govt schools, and another from a private school.