Saharsa/Patna: It’s not your average test centre. In Bihar’s Saharsa district, an unlikely venue has emerged for aspiring police and army recruits: the runway of an airport.
Yes, the runway.
Viral videos doing the rounds on social media appear to show rows of students, hunched over exam papers, lined up with military-like precision across the tarmac. While the videos remain unverified, the scene has sparked disbelief – and concern – online.
The makeshift open-air hall is reportedly the brainchild of private coaching academies that train students for physical and written components of police and army recruitment. Faced with a lack of large examination halls, some academy operators allegedly repurposed the disused Saharsa airstrip as their exam centre of choice.
“We use the runway when there’s no space available elsewhere,” one academy operator is heard saying in local news clips. According to reports, these written tests are held every Sunday, with hundreds of students participating – weather and air traffic permitting.
Perhaps the most surreal part of this story: the runway isn’t entirely abandoned. “Whenever a plane comes, we move aside,” said one female candidate, casually describing a scenario that sounds like it belongs more to a dystopian novel than an exam routine.
Observers have raised questions about safety, legality, and the sheer improvisation involved. Local authorities have yet to comment officially, and it’s unclear whether the airstrip is still under the jurisdiction of the Airports Authority of India or the state government.
While India is no stranger to innovative uses of public space, transforming a runway into an examination hall may be one for the aviation records — or at least the bureaucratic absurdity files.
