Ganesh Mahto writing the exam. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, Feb. 22: For one, it’s the red-tape. For the other, it’s moving up the pay ladder.

Whatever the reasons might be, both Sagar Nand Napit (56) and Ganesh Mahto (38, or that’s what his admit card says) were armed with grit and determination to clear the school final examinations this year.

It isn’t, though, Napit’s maiden appearance on the exam turf. He had taken the test in 1967 under the Bihar board and had submitted his certificates at his office. But those went missing because of the indiscretion of the authorities.

“I had tried for duplicates but the processes seemed gruelling and decided to take the examination this year to acquire fresh certificates,” he said, adding that they ensure an increment of Rs 500 in his job.

An attendance clerk at the Gopali Chak colliery under Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Napit was promoted from being a junior clerk three years back. His salary, however, has not increased despite his juniors overtaking him in the pay race. “Once I get the certificates, I shall get the same amount,” he further said.

Mahto, on the other hand, is a father of seven children and grandfather to nearly half-a-dozen teenagers. But his latest engagement was to cram the matriculation examinations, along with his youngest son, also an examinee this year.

His grey hair did manage to attract a few glances from his fellow examinees at the examination centre in Swatantra Bharat High School, and Mahto did consider the media attention unwarranted, but he found it “quite intriguing”. “The board examination certificate would get me a promotion and I might be among the fourth grade staff with a better pay in the future,” he said.

As a ward sweeper of the Dhanbad Municipal Corporation, he manages to get about Rs 7,000 per month, but with a matric exam certificate in tow, he expects his monthly income to jump to Rs 10,000.