A video from a college in Sagar shows two students evaluating answer sheets of BA Hindi Literature Exam. The two ”examiners” are first-year students, and they were evaluating papers of final year students. As reported by NDTV, the Barkatullah University (BU), after facing a massive protest from students, has formed an enquiry committee. Vice-chancellor DC Gupta said, “We have constituted three-member enquiry committee, this committee will check all the process followed by Sanjeev Dubey and how he has given the copies to Dr Dhaniram Ahirwar and how he has given the copies to students for valuation.”

Sanjeev Dubey is a full-time teacher in the college at Sagar, and Dhaniram Ahirwar is a guest lecturer. Mr Dubey was exam coordinator at Barkatullah University, and a coordinator for evaluation of answer sheets of universities in Rewa, Jabalpur, Indore and Ujjain.

“It has been found that a professor in a government college in Sagar in MP had assigned the task of evaluating the answer sheets to a second-semester student. We have blacklisted the professor, identified as Dhaniram Ahirwar, and wrote to all the universities in the state not to hire his services for evaluation of answer sheets of college examinations in future”, a senior officer of BU told The Asian Age.

Reportedly, Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya has ordered a probe.

“The BU Lokpal has already initiated a probe into the incident following the directives which were given by the minister,” a government official told The New Indian Express.

Student Bodies Protest

The National Student Union of India (NSUI) has protested against the scam. Students are complaining of massive irregularities in the evaluation process. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) spokesperson Rahul Kothari told NDTV, “This is a serious matter and Government will investigate properly. This is not about BJP or NSUI; we are sensitive towards improving the quality of education.”

Barkatullah University has a history of scams

As per reports, nearly 2.5 lakh students are studying in Barkatullah University and its 478 related colleges. The University has a low student-teacher ratio with teaching posts lying vacant. This is the fourth incidence of this kind in the past two years. The university is also home to the bachelor of dental surgery (BDS) exam scam, in which answer sheets were reportedly evaluated inside the hostel of the campus. On July 4, 2018, a case was registered against officials of welfare department and staffer of Barkatullah university in connection with a scholarship scam as reported by the Free Press Journal. The fraud began in 2011-2012 and continued till 2014.

The Logical Indian take

These kinds of incidents highlight the problems in our education system. A lack of responsibility and accountability, a lack of resources and overall mismanagement leads to situations where first-year students check answer sheets of final year students. The authorities should probe the matter and penalise those found guilty while ensuring these things don’t repeat in the future.

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