Power cuts in places like Canning and Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas triggered by heavy rain posed problems for students of Calcutta University who had to email or upload their answer scripts after writing their final semester exams on Thursday.
Many students of Bankim Sardar College in Canning could not upload or mail their answer scripts because charge had drained out of their phones by the time the three-hour exams ended at 1pm.
Students are required to scan the hand written A-4 size answers scripts and email them to their college or upload them on the college’s portal.
Some students of Sundarban Mahavidyalaya in Kakdwip had to wade through flooded streets to hand the answer scripts to the college authorities because power outage made it impossible for them to mail or upload the scripts.
The undergraduate final-year students of CU are writing the theory papers of BA and BSc courses, which started on July 29. The exams will continue till July 31.
At Bankim Sardar College, about 12 per cent of the examinees could not submit the answer scripts on time because of power woes, said principal Tilak Chatterjee. “The problem was faced by those who stay on the other side of the Matla, adjoining Gosaba and Basanti,” he said.
The downpour that started on Wednesday and continued through much of Thursday caused the power outage.
“Barely 2-3 per cent power remained on the phones minutes before the exams were to end. Many students called departmental heads for help. They sought time till they could get the phones recharged,” the principal said.
According to UGC rules, a student has to upload answer scripts or email them within 15 minutes of the completion of an examination. An official of the college said they received the scripts at 4pm.
A teacher said a bigger worry loomed as students were unsure about writing the exams on Friday because there was no end to the power outage.
Chatterjee has written to CU pro-vice-chancellor (academic) Ashis Chatterjee about the problems the students faced. Repeated calls to the pro-VC went unanswered.
