Speaking at a press conference at Mantralaya, the minister said that the police have been told to impose curfew near the 5,268 examination centres in the state. Over seven lakh students will take the HSC exams, while over 14 lakh will appear for the SSC exam.

To prevent malpractices, vigilance squads and flying squads have been set up, the minister announced. A seven-member panel has been set up in all the 33 districts in the state, under the respective district collectors, to ensure that there are no malpractices. The panels, which also include the district police head and the education officer, among others, have been asked to take action against any student found guilty of malpractices.Flying squads have also been set up to conduct surprise raids on centres notorious for rampant copying and other such malpractices. The210 members of the state and regional boards have been asked to pay surprise visits to all exam centres, including those which do not fall under their jurisdiction. Fax machines, photocopiers and mobile phones have been banned near exam centres, the minister said.

Deshmukh also stated that a new system had been introduced for packing question papers, by which packets once opened could not be closed again. The question paper packets will be opened in the presence of the chief examination supervisor, a student and a police officer, he added.

About malpractices during examinations, Deshmukh said that the most number of malpractices in Mumbai were from centres in Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi and Dombivli. The number of cases of copying and impersonation had gone in the last year, the minister informed. While the number of such cases SSC and HSC taken together -- were 8,719 in 1996, it was 8,954 in 1997, which went down to 5,962 in 1998.

Besides, control rooms have been established at all the regional boards forproviding information about the exams, the minister informed. Any complaints can also be made to these control rooms, which will operate from 9 am to 7 pm everyday. In the city, the board can be contacted at 4093481/82/83 or 4077854.