GUWAHATI, Feb 22: The Assam Assembly was adjourned for 10 minutes on Thursday as opposition parties created an uproarious scene demanding an adjournment motion to discuss allegations of misconduct in state board examinations, including a purported question paper leak.
When the House re-assembled, the Congress and the lone Independent legislator staged a walkout as the Speaker remained firm on disallowing the adjournment motion.
Leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia, along with others of his Congress party, and Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi had given separate notices for adjournment motions to discuss the allegations of problems in conducting the class 10 and 12 state board exams, which are underway currently.
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Saikia said that question paper leaks had happened in class 10 exams last year, which led the government to order a CID enquiry.
He demanded to know what corrective measures were taken based on the CID’s probe report.
“There may not have been paper leaks this time, but there are reports of wrong labelling of question paper bundles and other such mistakes since the first day of the exams. We will allocate funds for the department but we also want to know how it is utilised,” the Congress leader said.
Gogoi, however, alleged that a question paper has been leaked this year also and cited newspaper reports indicating problems in the conduct of the exams..
He also demanded the resignation of education minister Ranoj Pegu over the matter.
Speaker Biswajit Daimary, rejecting the adjournment motion notice, said though the matter is of importance, it can be discussed under other provisions and the government can reply to it.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika maintained in the House that no question paper leak has happened this year.
The opposition members, however, were not pacified and as a ruckus ensued, Daimary adjourned the proceedings for 10 minutes.
When the House re-assembled, Congress MLAs and Gogoi once again tried to raise the issue and staged a walkout as the Speaker refused to allow their motion. (PTI)
