New Delhi: At least four first year students of a pharmacy course at Uttar Pradesh’s state-run Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal (VBSP) University, who wrote “Jai Shri Ram” and the names of top Indian cricketers in their exam answer papers were awarded 50% marks, a disclosure under RTI has shown.
The Times of India stated that four students enrolled in the Diplomacy in Pharma programme at a university in Jaunpur received marks despite not providing any correct answers to the questions. However, Hindustan Times reported that the number of such students could be as high as 18.
According to NDTV, two professors at the university, Vinay Verma and Manish Gupta, have been suspended for allegedly giving marks to students on answer sheets festooned with religious slogans and song lyrics.
The RTI query was filed by Divyanshu Singh, a former student at the University. He questioned the marks given to the student and also wrote letters to the Prime Minister, UP Chief Minister, Governor, and Vice-Chancellor, alleging that with the connivance of university officials, a student who should have received zero marks had instead aced the examination with more than 60%.
As per HT, UP governor Anandiben Patel, who is also the chancellor, ordered an investigation into the matter, following which the university set up a committee.
Vice-chancellor Vandana Singh told NDTV that the committee “in its report said that students have been awarded more marks”.
NDTV reported that it had accessed answer sheets where “Jai Shri Ram” appeared in the middle of an answer about “pharmacy as a career”. In the same answer, there were names of cricketers like Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma.
Vice-chancellor Singh told the news channel that she had not seen the copy with “Jai Shri Ram”, but she saw another answer paper where “I could not make out anything relevant based on which marks could be given to the student”.
She confirmed that the committee had recommended the termination of the services of the two teachers, which will have to be approved by the university’s executive committee.
“Teachers have been warned so that such a thing is not repeated. The committee has recommended the termination for the involved teachers. But there’s a model code of conduct is in place and further action will be taken once the poll code is lifted,” said the VBSP vice-chancellor.
