Kolkata: Amid the special intensive revision (SIR) worries, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) is witnessing a sudden surge in applications for correction and duplicate certificates. TOI visited the WBBSE Park Street office and found that several elderly people were visiting the place for their duplicate certificates and admit cards for submission as SIR documents.
Barun Bihari Goswami, a 73-year-old from the Dhakuria area, came to the Park Street office along with his daughter to get his 1970 Madhyamik admit card. Tripti Goswami, his daughter, explained the harassment they faced last month to get a duplicate admit card as his age proof document. Tripti said, "My father has all recent documents, but he doesn't have past documents like age proof certificates, as our ancestral house was sold when my father was out of town. All his past documents got lost in the process. He never felt the need to get the duplicate documents. When the SIR process was rolled out, the BLO of our area told us that an age proof document is required." Barun Bihari's school was in Khardah, and last month, they visited the Khardah school and Park Street office several times. He finally got his admit card on Friday.
Two friends from the 1974 batch were spotted in front of the enquiry section of the Park Street office. One of them, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, "This has become ridiculous. All my old documents got misplaced when I shifted to my new house. I applied for a duplicate marksheet and certificate, and I have been asked to wait for 15 days."
Bimal Hazra, a 70-year-old, came along with his wife to get her duplicate documents from the board. He said, "My wife doesn't have a birth certificate, but she appeared for the Madhyamik in 1975." Another woman from the Bansdroni area, who passed her Madhyamik in 1977, also came to get her document.
The board officials said the number was quite high before the process was rolled out, but it has now come down. On an average, 10-20 cases are coming to the records section on a regular basis. Subrata Ghosh, secretary of WBBSE, said, "We have records of all candidates since the board was formed and started conducting exams. The officers are well-equipped to verify documents and provide them to those who need them. Number of applications surged ahead of the rollout, but now it's under control. Applications for different age groups and corrections for small errors have been handled by our officials on an emergency basis."