Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced that the state government had allocated a sum of Rs 1 crore for hill schools to buy heaters to beat the cold during the upcoming Madhyamik examinations.

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education’s (WBBSE) decision to change the timing of the Madhyamik exam, scheduled to start on February 2, from noon to 9.45 am in the morning had sparked protests in Darjeeling hills and plains.

Mamata, speaking at a government function in Siliguri on Monday said: “To beat the cold in the hill examination centres, the state government is allotting Rs 1 crore to buy heaters. Every school in the hills will have heaters now."

Sources in the WBBSE said that the decision to change the timing of Madhyamik exams from noon to morning had sparked protests in Darjeeling hills and plains.

“Teachers, guardians and activists earlier mentioned that the decision to change the examination timing from 12 noon to 9.45am will cause several inconveniences right from the cold weather to lack of transport,” the source.

The change in timing for the examination which is scheduled to start from February 2, had been notified on January 18.

In fact in the hills, many had demanded that the examination should not be held in February but later in the month because of the cold weather prevailing in the area at present. Darjeeling town has experienced snowfall even in February in the past.

"The change in the timing has come as a double whammy to many hill students,” sources added.

Dambar Prasad Shiwakoti, vice-president of All Bengal Teachers’ Association (ABTA, Darjeeling district) said that the authorities should arrange for an alternative heating facility, too.

"There are hill schools which are over 100 years old where electric wiring is not that strong to tackle heaters. Hence, authorities should also ensure alternative traditional heating facilities (such as coal stoves),” said Shiwakoti.

Some teachers also pointed out that in the event of snowfall, electricity supply is invariably disrupted.

"The weather in Darjeeling is cloudy from today (Monday) and there are chances of snowfall. During snowfall, many hilly areas face electricity outages. Electric heaters won't work in that situation,” added Shiwakoti.

Kundan Mukhia, the spokesperson of Concerned Youth of Hills (CYH), an apolitical organisation in the region, said there should be sufficient heaters in the schools, but also hoped that Madhyamik exams would be held a little later next year for hill students.

"We are grateful to the chief minister for her gesture (of funds for heaters). But we request her not to hold the exam at this time next year as the hills are very cold around this time. The process of collecting question papers and taking them to exam centres has been ordered to start from 6am and the current hilly weather is not suitable for work this early,” he said.

S.P. Sharma, the GTA chief public relations officer, said there were around 130 schools in the GTA area. “Initially we listed schools that would need heaters but now all schools will get heaters. There are around 4,000 Madhyamik examinees from the hills this year,” he said.