VTU rocked by massive marks scam

BANGALORE: Visvesvaraya Technological University which has over 180 affiliated colleges, has been rocked by a scandal where results of some 800 engineering students have allegedly been internally manipulated to help them to pass.

Under the scanner are the results of challenge valuation (third and final valuation) for the July 2010 III, IV, V and VI semester BE exams where students were awarded disproportionately high marks. Out of 3,311 students who applied for challenge valuation from third to sixth semesters, over 750 students have passed.

In one case, a student who got 15 marks in first valuation was awarded 51 after the challenge valuation. In another case, even though the first valuation and revaluation marks were the same (16), the student managed to get 35 during the third round, inflating his score by 19 marks.

These discrepancies were highlighted in a letter by BJP MLC Ganesh Karnic to higher education minister V S Acharya, who ordered a probe into the marks scam. A four-member committee headed by collegiate commissioner Tushar Girinath has been constituted to verify the scripts and submit report to government.

High drama unfolded on Monday morning when the probe team visited the VTU headquarters at Belgaum to verify the documents. Vice-chancellor H Maheshappa initially refused to part with answerscripts saying: "The government cannot send any team and demand answerscripts from the university. They should have served a show-cause notice before sending a team. I am even ready for CBI a probe."

According to Section 9 of the VTU Act, the state government can seek an explanation on the affairs of the university from the executive council and directly from the V-C or other officials of the university. Higher education principal secretary Madan Gopal said the government will issue fresh notice under the provisions of the VTU Act.

Source:Times of India

from :Shaz