lucknow

Updated: Dec 14, 2019 21:46 IST

In wake of recent incidents of question paper leak, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a three-member committee on Saturday to suggest if “technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI)” can be used to prevent human errors that cause such irregularities. The committee will be headed by the deputy director of the Indian Institute of Technology -- Kanpur (IIT-K).

In a press statement, deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said, “The committee will be headed by IIT-K deputy director Prof Manindra Agarwal, vice-chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University Prof Vinay Pathak, and vice-chancellor of Siddharth University Surendra Dubey. They will delve deep into issues of digital evaluation of answer sheets. The committee has been asked to submit its report in a month.”

Officials said the committee would recommend preventive measures / technologies that can be used at the time of making of question papers and during moderation and evaluation to bring down instances of paper leak and curb other exam-related irregularities.

Taking a serious view of a recent incident of leak in which the examination question paper was available out in the open, Sharma said, “Incidents like these take away from the sanctity of the examination and demoralise students who have studied hard throughout the year and yet have to reappear in fresh examinations.”

To recall, just a few days ago, two Lucknow University teachers were suspended and examinations had to be cancelled after allegations surfaced that questions of a paper of LLB third semester exam had leaked.

“It is expected of this committee to suggest measures on how recurrence of such incidents can be prevented,” said Sharma.

The state government’s press release stated that it had become all the more important to take measures, especially in the backdrop of a recent incident of paper leak at a university.

The statement also mentioned that one of the universities had made its examination system foolproof using technology.

“The committee has been asked to suggest how technology can be made foolproof so that one dare not tinker with it to malign the examination system. This must be done to strengthen the examination system and restore the sanctity of examinations,” Sharma said.

Other paper leaks in UP

February 2018: The physics-II question paper of Class 12 examination of UP Board was leaked at a centre in Bahraich. The centre in-charge mistakenly leaked the paper.

February 2018: The science paper of UP Board high school examination was leaked in Maharajganj.

May 13, 2016: The applied physics paper of government polytechnic institutions of the state was cancelled following allegations of paper leak.

May 14, 2016: Just a day later, the question paper of applied mathematics of government polytechnic institutions was also leaked.

March 2015: The question paper of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Services (UPPCS) preliminary examination was leaked.

July 2014: A railway recruitment board examination to be held in Lucknow had to be scrapped, as question papers were leaked just 90 minutes before the entrance test. The Uttar Pradesh special task force arrested two persons in this connection.

June 2014: The combined pre-medical test (CPMT) had to be cancelled after the entrance paper was leaked in Ghaziabad.