Picture used for representational purpose

CHENNAI: The cash-for-mark scam at Anna University, which the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) has sought to expose, has been happening for more than ten years, and such things cannot happen without the knowledge of the vice-chancellor, former Anna University vice-chancellor E Balagurusamy told TOI.

“Crores of rupees have been made through this,” he said. For students, too, it is not new. Paper chasing—that’s what Anna University students call the malpractice.

“It signifies how one has to chase and find out who the examiner in-charge of re-evaluating your paper would be, paying the bribe and getting a pass mark,” explains a student who has seen it all. The code — for bribing professors to get pass marks in re-evaluation — is no longer a secret, they say.

DVAC officials said one of the papers in their custody shows an increase of 70 marks after re-evaluation. Officers said they’ve found that a small group of university staff (teaching and non-teaching) doubled up as agents who secretly dealt with students in need. For students of affiliated colleges, contact details of these agents were passed on from seniors to juniors; only trusted people were allowed into the circle.

“Numbers are shared only if the student in question has flunked exams multiple times and has the financial wherewithal to clear the arrears by paying bribe. Even close friends are not privy to it,” said a former student. In the FIR filed on Tuesday, DVAC said former controller of examinations G V Uma and some professors had taken Rs10,000 per student to forge answer sheets or rig the marks.

Former students of the university told TOI that it wasn’t so simple; there were multiple rates depending on the number of arrears and the agent who the student gets in touch with. For instance, around three years ago, the bargain for rigging one re-evaluation paper started at Rs2,000. “Two of my friends paid Rs15,000 for clearing the arrears through re-evaluation,” said an Anna University graduate, now an IT employee. “Some agents assure pass mark, while some others are non-committal.”

“For qualitative subjects, people write pages and pages, and hope for pass mark. But for papers which have problem solving, they just cannot pass without knowing the subject well. After repeated arrears, they go paper chasing,” said another alumnus.

Asked what systemic changes are needed to clean up the system, former vice-chancellor Balagurusamy said first the vice-chancellor and the controller of examinations should be honest.

