Lucknow, Feb 9: The crackdown launched by the Uttar Pradesh government against the state's notorious 'nakal mafia' or the cheating racket has yielded gains. As per the data emerging from the ongoing board examinations, over 6 lakh students of the 66-odd lakh who registered have skipped the exams.

The absenteeism is being considered as the fear of law penetrating among the dubious students, who registered themselves with the board to clear the examinations in a fraudulent manner.

Deputy chief minister Dineshwar Sharma, who holds the portfolio of secondary education among others, said nearly 80 per cent of the absentees are students who enrolled from other states.

As per the data which emerged from the first three days of exam, a total of 6,33,217 did not turn. Of these, 3,79,782 had enrolled for the high school exams, and 2,53,435 were registered for the intermediate.

The absentees from this year has already crossed the number of dropouts from the past year. The number is expected to add up to 7.5 lakh by the last date of the examination.

Enlisting the steps taken by the government to ensure no loophole in the surveillance of exams, Sharma said the number of centres were reduced from 11,415 to 8,549 for improved vigilance.

Teachers on duty, Sharma said, have also been asked to remain "extra-vigilant". The number of candidates caught cheating has also jumped sharply, with a total of 128 cases reported this year in the first two days.

Sharma said the government's aim is to "completely eliminate the nakal mafia", claiming that it generates "hundreds of crores" of illicit wealth -- "much higher than in any big industry".

The government is also improving the quality of education, which would automatically compel the students to study rather than resorting to cheat tactics in the exam, the Deputy CM said while speaking to reporters.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 09, 2018 08:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).