35km walk for exam

TT, Gangtok, Aug. 11: Twelve boys from the Kalimpong subdivision walked for around 35km to appear for the entrance test of the National Defence Academy in Gangtok because of the indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills.

The exam for the posts of junior rank officers in the army and the navy was held at Sir Tashi Namgyal Senior Secondary School in Gangtok today.

The organisers of the exam said only 46 per cent of the candidates had written the test, though they couldn’t give the exact reason for the large number absentees

“Of the 456 candidates, only 214 were present in the examination. I can’t say the exact reason for so many students not coming to write the exam. But I came to know that many from the hills such as Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong did not come,” said Buddha Gurung, the under-secretary of the Sikkim Public Service Commission.

The boys who walked from different places in the Kalimpong subdivision reached Rangpo, the border town of Bengal and Sikkim, yesterday evening.

“It was a tiring journey. I walked from Algarah to Kalimpong (15km) and then to Rangpo (25km away). It took almost six hours for me to reach Rangpo. The exam is conducted only in the state capitals,” said Sonam Tamang, 16, a Class XII student of Kumidini School in Kalimpong.

Boys who study in Plus Two or above are eligible to attend the exam.

Like Tamang, there were 11 other boys who walked from different parts of Kalimpong such as Durpin, Sindeybong, and Relli.

“I had decided that whatever may be the circumstances, I had to appear for the entrance test. Otherwise, I will have to wait till next year for the same exam. It was a daunting task to walk such a long distance. But on the way, I met other boys who were walking like me to reach Rangpo,” said Suresh Pradhan, a 20-year-old BCA student.

He is the resident of Sangeer Cinchona Plantation area, 13km far from Kalimpong.

The students said they had carried water and some snacks to eat on the way.

“My mother had kept some home-cooked food like roti, aloo, and chutney and two bottles of water in the bag. The highway wore a deserted look; all the shops were closed and there was a huge deployment of the police along the road,” said Abinay Chettri, a resident of Durpin in Kalimpong.

Saurav Karki from Lopchu in Darjeeling took a lift in a police vehicle up to Rangpo on Friday.

“ I managed to get a lift in a police vehicle but I don’t know how I will go back. I am sure there are many candidates from Darjeeling who skipped the exam,” he said.

Those who came from Siliguri using public transport under police escort also narrated their plight in booking tickets.

“The SNT bus terminus in Siliguri was teeming with passengers. We had to wait for more than an hour in the queue to get the ticket and the bus broke down half the way. We got into another bus to reach Rangpo and didn’t get seats. Finally, we took a share cab from Ramgpo to Gangtok,” said Eric Tshering, a resident of Pradhan Nagar in Siliguri.

Rajesh Prasad, 17, a student of Subh Maya Surya Narayan High School in Bagdogra, is uncertain of returning home tomorrow because of non- availability of tickets at the SNT counters in Gangtok.

“We (his friends) couldn’t get the bus ticket today. We will have to stay in Gangtok even on Monday because the booking of the bus ticket has to be done one day in advance,” he said.