Generators will ensure uninterrupted power supply at exam centres

MUMBAI: The school education department has said it will ensure uninterrupted power supply at all SSC and HSC examination centres across the
state.
"The issue of load-shedding during the SSC and HSC exams was raised before the high court last year. Then the court had asked the education department to take necessary measures to ensure proper facilities for the students. This time, we have decided to provide uninterrupted power supply at all the 6,000-odd centres,'' Sanjay Kumar, school education secretary, told TOI on Friday.

Sanjay Kumar had convened a high-level meeting of the officials of the education and energy department to draft a comprehensive action plan to ensure adequate power supply at all exam centres.

Energy department officials said that due to unprecedented load-shedding across the state ranging between six to 18 hours, it will not be possible to supply uninterrupted power to the examination centres. "We made it clear at the meeting that we will not be able to supply power to examination centres, since it was not possible to isolate the them. We can ensure power supply at only those centres where feeder separation is possible,'' a senior energy department official said.

In view of the scenario, it has been proposed to hire power generation sets for the examination centres. "As per our information, nearly 4,500 examination centres will require generators. We plan to hire these sets for the examination beginning from February 26,'' said a school education department official.

The official said hiring power generation sets will be a costly affair, but all steps will be taken to ensure adequate power supply. The charge for a generator ranges between Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 per day, depending upon its capacity. The education department was not sure if such a large number of generators was available on hire. "We are still working out the cost of the proposal. We will place the entire proposal before the cabinet. If the cabinet does not approve the proposal, then we will have no option but to levy a minor surcharge on the students to recover the cost of the power generators,'' the official said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Generators_will_ensure_uninterrupted_power_supply_at_exam_centres/articleshow/
4090394.cms