By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 23 Jul: The question paper leak at Veer Madhho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University has directly affected thousands of students, forcing them to reappear for examinations. The incident, which had surfaced ahead of scheduled semester tests, has led to the cancellation of two examination papers and has raised fresh concerns about transparency and credibility in the state’s examination system.
The university officials have confirmed that the papers of ‘Machine Learning for Internet of Things’ and ‘Electromagnetic Field Theory’ were leaked before the examinations. According to the officials, a professor from an affiliated engineering college had shared several questions on a WhatsApp group of students, which later matched the actual papers. An anonymous complaint sent to the university and college directors triggered an internal inquiry.
On the directions of the Vice Chancellor, an internal committee was constituted to investigate the matter. The committee gathered evidence and established that the professor had indeed circulated the questions prior to the examination. Based on its findings, the university cancelled the papers held on 24 June and 8 July and barred the accused professor from all examination-related work for seven years.
Controller of Examinations VK Patel confirmed that both papers have been annulled and will be rescheduled. Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Tripta Thakur stated that the professor, though not directly employed by the university, has been removed from examination duties and the affiliated college concerned has been instructed to take strict action. She described the incident as condemnable and emphasised that the university has written to the college to act seriously against the accused.
Sources said that the paper leak has impacted students from nearly 12 engineering institutions affiliated with the university. The examination of around 22 students was cancelled immediately after the first complaint, and subsequently, another paper involving 355 students was also annulled as a precaution. The university has announced that fresh examinations will be conducted in the third week of August, with detailed schedules to be released later.
It may be recalled that the episode comes at a time when paper leaks in competitive and recruitment examinations have already fuelled anger among youth across the country. In Uttarakhand too, several such cases have been reported in recent years, though most competitive examinations are stated to have been conducted transparently and fairly in recent years after a very strict anti-paper leak law was brought in the state. However, the said law does not apply in case of academic examinations. For this, a separate law is certainly the need of the hour besides the fast track courts as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and welcomed by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami today. Several precautionary steps and measures and a strict disciplinary action are required against those found indulging in paper leaks.
