Students appearing in the final-year exams of undergraduate courses in and third and fourth semester exams of postgraduate courses under the Gourbanga University in Malda are facing testing times.

Examinees alleged unprecedented ordeals in downloading question papers and uploading answer-scripts on time. Often, it is more convenient for many to travel several kilometres to their respective colleges to submit the answer sheets papers, they have said.

PG examinations for students of third and fourth semesters started on October 1 while final-year exams for UG courses started from October 5. In total, around 32,000 students in colleges affiliated to the varsity are taking their final UG exams. Nearly 2,000 students are writing papers at the PG level.

Panicky examinees are often found huddled at small cyber cafes to avail the Internet. While writing papers together on the floor of a cyber cafe, social distancing protocols — the main reason why colleges were closed amid the pandemic — goes for a toss, students have alleged.

Many of them blamed varsity authorities, particularly the department of the controller of examinations, for the inconveniences in the online mode of exams, added students but refused to be identified.

“If I am exposed before the varsity authorities, I can be victimised in one way or the other,” said a girl examinee of Malda College. She, along with a dozen of her friends, was writing papers at a small cyber café of the town which was a far cry from the college exam hall.

The students said that they were told that question papers would be available nearly an hour before the scheduled time of the exam. “Our nerves were strained when question papers were not available online even 15 minutes ahead of exam time. Plus downloading them takes so long,” an examinee said.

It has been learnt from the sources that the grievance cell of the varsity is receiving innumerable calls during the examinations and all are from the examinees, who are still reeling under uncertainty about proper submission of the answer-scripts.

Heads of different colleges have conceded the harassment of students. Biswarup Sarkar, the controller of examinations at GBU, also admitted that students faced troubles during the exams.