The Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) had to cancel the Class 10 examination for Science, scheduled for Monday, following reports of a paper leak.
The order was issued on Sunday night after media reports and social media posts showed hand-written questions of the model question paper of general science. An order issued by the SEBA said the examination was cancelled fearing confusion among students following the alleged leak of the question paper.
The fresh date for the general science examination will be announced later, SEBA said.
Many students, however, went in person and had to return from examination halls since the exam was to take place on Monday morning.
The development led to a stormy situation inside the ongoing budget session of the Assam Assembly on Monday morning when Opposition parties blamed the state government for their alleged failure to conduct the examination in a free and fair manner. The Opposition Congress demanded an adjournment of the Assembly session for a discussion on the issue but the Speaker did not give permission.
Senior Congress MLA, Debabrata Saikia said over four lakh students suffered due to failure of the SEBA and the state education department.
Education Minister Ranoj Pegu told the Assembly that a CID inquiry has been ordered into the alleged leak of the question paper.
Saikia, however, sought to know what action has been taken against the officials of the SEBA and the education department for their lapses. The Congress MLA demanded that the inquiry should be conducted by a retired judge of Gauhati High Court.
The influential All Assam Students' Union also slammed the BJP-led Assam government and demanded resignation of the Education Minister.
Akhil Gogoi, MLA of Raijor Dal, another Opposition party, also demanded the resignation of Pegu.