Panic spread among students on the first day of the SSC examinations at Zilla Parishad High School (Boys) in Mancherial. Instead of the Telugu question paper, the exam center received Hindi question papers by mistake.
When officials opened the sealed cover containing the question papers, they were shocked to find Hindi instead of Telugu. Realizing the mistake, they immediately sent the papers back. Education Department officials arrived at the center to investigate the issue. After searching other Trunk Boxes, they found the correct Telugu question paper in a box meant for the second day of exams. Unfortunately, this process took around one and a half hours.
To make up for the lost time, the examination was conducted from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM instead of the usual schedule. Students were also provided with snacks during the delay. Officials confirmed that the Day-2 question paper (Hindi) remained unopened and sealed. In total, 9,189 students are appearing for the SSC exams across 49 centers in the district.
Mancherial Collector Kumar Deepak expressed displeasure over the incident and instructed DEO S. Yadaiah to investigate and submit a report.
As a result of their negligence, Chief Superintendent Safdar Ali Khan and Department Officer N. R. Padmaja were suspended. Their failure to ensure the correct distribution of question papers caused 240 students at the center to wait for nearly two hours before they could begin their exam.
